There are 3 things in my parenting adventures so far that I have found
equally as
REWARDING as they are FRUSTRATING!
They are in no particular order...
- Potty Training…do we really need to talk about this?
- Teaching your child to Read - There is nothing better than listening to your child read you a story, that is except maybe seeing them cuddled up reading a story to a younger sibling. Melts my heart… BUT they only get there if you don't strangle them first when they are stuck on the same word they just read the sentence before. Or if you make it out of the conversation that goes like this, "No, try again, that's not the word." "It has to be xxxx." "No, that's not it." "YES, it is xxxx…really, there is NO OTHER OPTIONS!!!" "NO, THAT IS NOT THE WORD!!!!" "YES IT IS!!!!!!!!" Ahhhhhhhh…….. Sometimes you have to call it quits for the day and try again tomorrow! But after all the frustration it does click…eventually!! For those of you who have not gotten here yet, just trust me! Try to keep your patients, but if you can't or they can't STOP and come back to it later!
- Family Dinner Time - We try to eat dinner as a family every night. And I usually cook a full meal 6 nights a week. It is GREAT to all sit down and talk about our day. I love asking the kids, "What was your favorite thing at school today?" And they LOVE answering that question and it leads to good conversation. All fine and dandy and GREAT! That is until someone decided to share a funny dance they did at school and stands up to show everyone and then everyone else wants to stand up and then someone says a potty word and then everyone is saying potty words, which leads to fake burping…well you get the picture. Things can go from calm and nice to hysterics and you don't even know what hit you! And then there is the "Eat your dinner…" "Please, eat your dinner." "No more drinking." "Pick up your FORK, don't use your fingers." My blood pressure is rising just writing this. My boys are GREAT eaters…my girls, another story….
So there you have it. My TOP 3.
Someday they will all sit and eat like civilized adults, not pee in there pants, and be able to read the newspaper…RIGHT???
Ha! This is so fabulous and so true. I'm sure many of us are chuckling, groaning, and nodding in agreement. Great post on so many levels ... from not actually commenting on potty training, to the encouragement to those who will teach a child to read (I've been getting nervous about entering this phase with Brian, because I know we both have a lot of work ahead!). And your dinners sound JUST like ours. Brian is our comedian and potty-word-user extraordinaire!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this so funny and so true reflection, Gretchen. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to think about my top three..
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you got a laugh! I can't wait to hear what your top 3 are! I hope you are feeling well. I miss you on FB!