sweet pea is like a ping pong ball bouncing all over the place. how could one child cause such joy and such consternation? i am constantly baffled by his wisdom, and frustrated by his activity. after spending an entire weekend trying to figure out how to handle his complete knowledge of guns and their function (acquired at school on friday?!?), i talked to his preschool teachers who assured me the only problem they have at school is the use of the word stupid. on so many levels that is frustrating. especially when he came home last night asking what shut up means. i want to make sure he can deal with all of life's troubles, and protect him from them at the same time. preschool teachers cannot be aware or prevent every crazy thing from filtering into the spongy mind of my boy (but shouldn't they at least notice?).
another parent at school asked if i wanted her to pick me up information about a parenting class on "high spirited" children. thanks for noticing. thank you very much. it's like reading those darn "what to expect...." books right after you have a baby and stressing out about whether or not your kid is eating enough. intuitively i know if you trust yourself, the parenting just happens naturally. being kind people and loving your children has to pay off in the end, right? can you tell how freaked out i am about parenting a preschooler?!? i can't even imagine what i'll do when he wants to go on a date. i know it all comes down to our parenting. to ignore or not to ignore. to give control and to take it away. teaching empathy. controlling anger. teaching by example. following through. being consistent. and i find, as with most things, the harder you try to be the "perfect" parent, the less likely you are to achieve that goal. i just can't help but feel that if i let up for a second my boy will be sharking the playground for lunch money.
meg- who doesn't want a high spirited child? sure it's tiresome, and frustrating at times, however it's the high spirited children who change the future for the better! how annoying for someone else to make that judgement call... i know i'm not around him all of the time--rarely, in fact-- but i think you and brad have raised a very nice little guy with a lot of energy and a love for life.
ReplyDeletejust thinking about him makes dave and i, jenhentzen, laugh out loud. we think he's pretty great.
meg - perfect?!? well none of us are and no one expects us to be but ourselves. we are all learning as we go, and we can't always shelter our children but we can sure try. When they learn something we don't want them to, then we teach them about what they learned and how to handle it in the future. We love both of your boys spirit and energy and I think you are doing a great job, you should know that I always call you for advice! Smile sister you have a great family!
ReplyDeleteI read this yesterday, like 13 minutes after you posted it and I wanted to comment then, but as you have read on my blog little bit was not having any part of it....the majority of kids are high spirited at some point...this is not a reflection on your parneting skills....I would bet money that you and your husband are going to have 2 fine, well mannered, rambuncious, sweet, boys...everyday is a learning experience, some days you are going to get it right and others are learning experiences... you guys are the only ones who know what your children need and what your family needs... you go this, I promise.
ReplyDeletethanks girls! i appreciate your kind words and advice. i'm working on the trusting myself thing.
ReplyDeleteI dont think I like that parent with the superiority complex. I find her judgement to be very offensive. I would have wanted to shoot back, "Is it at the same time as the - How to get your boring child to show some personality class?"
ReplyDeleteI love your posts about sweet pea. He's so spunky and smart and sweet and full of imagination.
You have the most adorable boys! Don't let the "haters" get you down, yo! ;-)
Oh honey, looking at Carter and back at you, you could be clones. His word "stupid" was your work "shut up". Carter is an explorer and adventurer, as were you growing up. He's also gentle, kind, loving, interesting and creative as were you growing up. Sometimes we question our wisdom about our children, but remember so did your ancestors and the world just keeps turning.
ReplyDeleteMom
This is going to sound crazy, but how did you get you video to load onto your blog? I am way techo challanged and could use the help.
ReplyDeletejenerbug@gmail.com
Thanks