Dear husband and co-creator of our two tiny Tasmanian devils:
I am beyond livid right now.
While you were helping me take our children for a walk today, I realized this behavior is unacceptable.
Our children would not STOP sloshing in the puddles! I had to scold them 10 times and you had to drag them away from even a 3 mm deep puddle. Don’t they understand we can’t be inconvenience by this type of behavior?
I had to count to three on three separate occasions because they were dancing under disgusting rain gutters, washing their hands from who knows what, and running near the street without holding either of our hands.
I had to sentence them to the corner when we got home twice, and threaten eating the fruit roll-up we promised them for dessert.
Now we are going to have to give the boys yet another bath today.
I’m going to have to clean up the floor again from the endless aggravating splashing.
I’m going to scold them for trying to drink the bath water.
I’m going to have to freak out when Jackson sprays me in the forehead with his rubber ducky (laundry = +1 load).
Sigh.
What do we need to do to change this type of behavior?
Love, your annoyed wife that our children call “the best mom,”
Lisa
Word to my Fellow Mothers
The above is an exaggerated version (or is it?) of how I would likely feel about my children if we were taking a rainy walk. Yesterday after an hour of brainstorming and reading mommy blogs on what to do on a rainy day, I came up with the brilliant idea of going out in the rain, on a rainy day (I’m so creative).
During our walk, I realized how joyful they were. When I think back, I’m almost certain that there are no photos in my possession of them happier than they are in these portraits.
It was at that moment I grasped that I had become one of “those” moms.
How did this happen? I was the pregnant lady that watched other parents in the grocery store and park and judged them – why can’t they just let their kids have fun? Geez, the kid just wants to pick a dandelion – is that mom in such a rush to leave the park that she has to yell?
When did this happen? Was it instant, or a slow process over the past 3 years?
It’s time to stop missing out on so much in life by being so selfish. It’s time to stop thinking about me, me, me, and how I am inconvenienced by my children, and start thinking about them. The truth is, I am robbing myself of experiencing my children. The spontaneity, excitement, discovery and even mischief they bring to my world.
It’s time to grin when we see the glee on our child’s face as he flails in muddy puddles, and stop feeling automatic annoyance.