#4. Boys are from Mars. Girls are from Venus. It's not nurture, it's nature all the way. I was skeptical until I watched my infant son transform into a karate-chopping, car-bashing, body hurling, loud as can be toddler. If you buy your son a doll in the hopes that he will be in touch with his emotional side, prepare to see that doll used as a projectile or a battering ram. If you buy your daughter a pick-up truck, she will probably dress it in pink and invite it to her tea party. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions, but I think it's safe to say this is the rule.
#5. Mother= Guilt. Stay at home and working moms alike are united by this fact. It's the reason we stay home, the reason we go back to work, the reason we have a hard time letting them cry it out at night, the reason we don't tell anyone how much TV our kid watches. I'm pretty sure it's the root of everything. If we could just stop trying to be perfect, we might shake ourselves free of it. But if you can't beat it, embrace it. It connects you to every other woman and Catholic on the planet.
#6. You will suck at something. Nobody is a perfect Renaissance parent, so don't be surprised if you find yourself lacking in one of the major child-tending categories: organization, discipline, outside play, inside play, storytelling, singing, housecleaning, and scrapbooking/record keeping. Yes, scrapbooking has officially been added as a parenting category thanks to its wave of popularity and its ability to make most women feel domestically challenged. I suck at outside play. I get bored of kicking a ball to my son, pushing him on the swing for what feels like an eternity, or getting dragged into a game of tag. I really suck at tag-- mostly because I'm too self-conscious to play. It requires me to showcase my awkward running style and a body prone to excessive bouncing. To cope with his ceaseless requests, I invented a new version called "Turtle Tag" that allows me to chase him in slow motion. My son has totally bought into Turtle Tag. I am the laziest mom ever.
#5. Mother= Guilt. Stay at home and working moms alike are united by this fact. It's the reason we stay home, the reason we go back to work, the reason we have a hard time letting them cry it out at night, the reason we don't tell anyone how much TV our kid watches. I'm pretty sure it's the root of everything. If we could just stop trying to be perfect, we might shake ourselves free of it. But if you can't beat it, embrace it. It connects you to every other woman and Catholic on the planet.
#6. You will suck at something. Nobody is a perfect Renaissance parent, so don't be surprised if you find yourself lacking in one of the major child-tending categories: organization, discipline, outside play, inside play, storytelling, singing, housecleaning, and scrapbooking/record keeping. Yes, scrapbooking has officially been added as a parenting category thanks to its wave of popularity and its ability to make most women feel domestically challenged. I suck at outside play. I get bored of kicking a ball to my son, pushing him on the swing for what feels like an eternity, or getting dragged into a game of tag. I really suck at tag-- mostly because I'm too self-conscious to play. It requires me to showcase my awkward running style and a body prone to excessive bouncing. To cope with his ceaseless requests, I invented a new version called "Turtle Tag" that allows me to chase him in slow motion. My son has totally bought into Turtle Tag. I am the laziest mom ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment