Thursday, December 01, 2011
Parenting 101: You FAIL!
No one ever tells you the ins and outs of parenting. Sure, some people offer a few pearls of wisdom here and there, but no one really ever tells you the reality of it all and how difficult and unpredictable things can be when you have a little one.
I am always amazed at parents who seemingly parent so naturally. It's as though nothing bothers them. They never stumble, slip, or fall. I am secretly envious of parents who have it "together". Seriously? You don't have moments where you feel you need to lock yourself in the bathroom and cry? Oh, wait. Did I say that out loud?
Then there are the not so serious moments of parenting slip ups. Though they may not be detrimental to my child's well-being, they're still the mistakes that in hindsight make you think, "Why did you possibly think that was a good idea?!"
Case in point:
Getting into the Holiday spirit, I wanted to get Little One excited about Christmas too. She loves hearing about Baby Jesus in the manger and the star of Bethlehem. She just turned 3 the other week and is more interested in that than in jolly 'ol Saint Nick (which is totally fine with us). This said, she has expressed an interest in the festive holiday with all the music and decorations. She loves the lights and sparkly everything.
"Mama, I yuuuuv Chrimass!"
"Oh, that's good! I'm so happy to hear you love Christmas!"
I took her to see Santa Claus at the mall and the poor kid cried bloody murder. The tears! It was heartbreaking!
"I don't want him! I don't want him! Mommy, I don't like Santa!!!!", she screamed through her tears. "I don't want him! He's bad! He's a bad guy!!!!"
No photo with Santa this year, I suppose.
When I think of it, I can't really blame her. I teach her to never go with strangers, yet I plunk her onto the lap of a strange man in a red suit with a huge beard and a bunch of elves standing beside him? Yeah. Totally unrealistic expectations. What was I thinking? Well, I guess I wasn't thinking.
Then, I wanted to share something special from my childhood. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it's been a long lived tradition for me to watch all the Christmas classics on TV. This year, now that she just turned 3, I wanted to watch Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc.
I bought her a collection of Christmas classics on DVD.
"I want the reindeer one!"
When we got to the scene where Rudolph and the dentist elf meet the Abominable Snowman, Little One started screaming.
"I don't like him! Turn it off! I'm scared! I'm scared! I don't like monsters!!"
I tried to explain that he wasn't really a bad monster and that in the end, he helps the elves decorate the Christmas tree. She wasn't having any of that. To be honest, I totally forgot about the "monster" scene. Actually, I didn't really think she'd be scared of him.
We haven't even watched The Grinch or Frosty, and she has already decided she HATES all Christmas DVDs and will not watch them.
She is totally uninterested. What fun.
I am always amazed at parents who seemingly parent so naturally. It's as though nothing bothers them. They never stumble, slip, or fall. I am secretly envious of parents who have it "together". Seriously? You don't have moments where you feel you need to lock yourself in the bathroom and cry? Oh, wait. Did I say that out loud?
Then there are the not so serious moments of parenting slip ups. Though they may not be detrimental to my child's well-being, they're still the mistakes that in hindsight make you think, "Why did you possibly think that was a good idea?!"
Case in point:
Getting into the Holiday spirit, I wanted to get Little One excited about Christmas too. She loves hearing about Baby Jesus in the manger and the star of Bethlehem. She just turned 3 the other week and is more interested in that than in jolly 'ol Saint Nick (which is totally fine with us). This said, she has expressed an interest in the festive holiday with all the music and decorations. She loves the lights and sparkly everything.
"Mama, I yuuuuv Chrimass!"
"Oh, that's good! I'm so happy to hear you love Christmas!"
I took her to see Santa Claus at the mall and the poor kid cried bloody murder. The tears! It was heartbreaking!
"I don't want him! I don't want him! Mommy, I don't like Santa!!!!", she screamed through her tears. "I don't want him! He's bad! He's a bad guy!!!!"
No photo with Santa this year, I suppose.
Little One's photo with Santa last year.
Then, I wanted to share something special from my childhood. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it's been a long lived tradition for me to watch all the Christmas classics on TV. This year, now that she just turned 3, I wanted to watch Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc.
I bought her a collection of Christmas classics on DVD.
"I want the reindeer one!"
When we got to the scene where Rudolph and the dentist elf meet the Abominable Snowman, Little One started screaming.
"I don't like him! Turn it off! I'm scared! I'm scared! I don't like monsters!!"
I tried to explain that he wasn't really a bad monster and that in the end, he helps the elves decorate the Christmas tree. She wasn't having any of that. To be honest, I totally forgot about the "monster" scene. Actually, I didn't really think she'd be scared of him.
We haven't even watched The Grinch or Frosty, and she has already decided she HATES all Christmas DVDs and will not watch them.
She is totally uninterested. What fun.
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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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12 comments:
I love her photo last year... it is so funny.. cute.. and funny :)
I definitely have days where I want to lock myself in the bathroom & cry.
I have a feeling J would be afraid of those characters too LOL.
As a kid I was always terrified of anyone in a costume. To be honest they still creep me out, just not as bad. I always assumed if they're hiding their identity something isnt right, I usually assumed they were child molesters LOL
hi c - that photo is priceless!!!!!!
i don't blame your daughter for being creeped out by costumed characters!
i guess, no "monsters inc" until she's older then? :)
Maria:
her last year photo is so funny and so awful at the same time! It doesn't even look like her! LOL! Poor kid will be emotionally scarred from now on. Great job, Mom! LOL!
Frau:
Funny you should say that! That's how I've always felt about CLOWNS!!! As a kid I was terrified (and still am). I always felt they were hiding something or they were sinister. I feel badly now because one of my good friends *is* a clown! I've only seen her in clown once. I knew it was her, so I wasn't petrified. I don't want to project any irrational fears I have on my daughter. I'm trying my best not to let my fears of certain things show.
Canine:
LOL! Poor kid, eh? That photo is hilarious. No Monsters Inc. I tried. I even explained that the monsters were good! Where do kids get their ideas of fear from? She was never exposed or taught (at least not from us) that monsters = bad.
Ok, real sorry for your little one, but this picture could win awards!! I was laughing so hard at this post, I almost woke mine up!! I won't be bringing mine to see Santa either!!
Mama MOE:
I just had a good look at the photo again and Santa's facial expression totally cracks me up! LOL! Poor Santa!
Hey, Santa is scary!
LOL Oh the things we do in the name of tradition. I too have the screaming kid on Santa's lap photos. :)
PS You are an amazing Mama!
There's no way I'd want to work as a mall Santa. Hell no.
Maybe I told you this last year, but when I took Maya to pick up our tree from the lot one year when she was 3 or 4, the guy who helped us was a tall big guy with a white beard and everything. So he's carrying the tree, and she started crying, "Santa's stealing our tree???" She was flipping. Poor thing. HA!
As to perfect parents, people who have it together? We're all that parent sometimes. Also? We're all sometimes the parent who needs to lock herself in the bathroom and cry. You totally rock as a mom, and of course sometimes it's too much. It's a hell of a job. A great one, but a hard one.
We all have those lock-myself-in-the-bathroom moments...days, whatever.
We have a couple of those DVD Christmas classics collections. Ellen also has boycotted Rudolph, for the same reason as your little one. She also won't watch that one with the Story of Santa Claus, where Old Man Winter plays a part; HE'S too scary too.
Ellen does love the Grinch and the Little Drummer Boy. Maybe your LO would like Drummer Boy; no really scary monsters and baby Jesus is there in the end.
Don't feel too bad about last year's Santa pic. She probably won't remember it in a year or two. Now, Santa on the other hand, he looks like he might be scarred for life. LOL