The Day To Day
Just the other day the kids and I were picking up around the house. Sam finished his room and asked what else he could do. Since he spends so much time in the den I told him he could pick up in there - clean off the desk, empty the garbage, pick up the miscellaneous socks that strangely wind up on the den floor. Half hour later we're done. The kids have moved on to other things and I'm going around the house, finishing up. The last room I check is the den. Things appear to be in shape but stuffed under the bench in the corner is a wad of notebooks, paper, old tissues. It would appear someone crumpled up all the garbage and shoved it under the furniture.
And then last night ... Sam and I were leaving for choir, or trying to leave for choir, but Sam couldn't find his shoes. He's acting squirrely and Jake is giggling. So I ask Jake, where are Sam's shoes. He tells me he can't say because Sam will get mad. Jake, where are Sam's shoes? Apparently, he left one of them at school. Unintentionally. He was running down the stairs at the end of the day and one fell off. (I'm sure this is partly because he never ties his shoes but I can't really go down that road because I used to do the same thing.) A classmate picked up the shoe and left school with it.
So my first thought is Sam waited at the bus stop, rode home on the bus, and managed to get into the house without me noticing he was missing a shoe.
But then, when it was time to leave for choir, he acted like he couldn't find it. He actually walked around and looked for it. What did he think he was going to wear to choir? What did he think he was going to wear to school the next morning, for that matter?
He truly thought he could go "one shoe'd" for the next 24 hours. He assumed whoever picked up the shoe would return with it the next day, even though he doesn't know who picked it up and chances are, the kid who picked it up doesn't know it belongs to Sam.
Sure, these stories are funny. If you have a teenager you might empathize. But I also find it incredibly frustrating and somewhat alarming. It's not like we're talking about a toddler. Sam is a teenager. No, I don't think he is going to become a sociopath just because he stuffed garbage under the furniture instead of putting it in the garbage can. But come on.
As my kids get older I find parenting more exasperating. Don't get me wrong. Being a parent is rewarding and wonderful. There are moments of overwhelming love and indescribable pride. But parenting - the day to day management of it all - can be plagued by frustration, agitation and aggravation. And that is why I don't blog much anymore. At some point it becomes less fulfilling (and entertaining) to document the frustration. Everybody loves a potty training story but when your 10-year-old wipes his behind on the shower curtain, not so funny now, is it?
(OK, maybe it is.)
And then last night ... Sam and I were leaving for choir, or trying to leave for choir, but Sam couldn't find his shoes. He's acting squirrely and Jake is giggling. So I ask Jake, where are Sam's shoes. He tells me he can't say because Sam will get mad. Jake, where are Sam's shoes? Apparently, he left one of them at school. Unintentionally. He was running down the stairs at the end of the day and one fell off. (I'm sure this is partly because he never ties his shoes but I can't really go down that road because I used to do the same thing.) A classmate picked up the shoe and left school with it.
So my first thought is Sam waited at the bus stop, rode home on the bus, and managed to get into the house without me noticing he was missing a shoe.
But then, when it was time to leave for choir, he acted like he couldn't find it. He actually walked around and looked for it. What did he think he was going to wear to choir? What did he think he was going to wear to school the next morning, for that matter?
He truly thought he could go "one shoe'd" for the next 24 hours. He assumed whoever picked up the shoe would return with it the next day, even though he doesn't know who picked it up and chances are, the kid who picked it up doesn't know it belongs to Sam.
Sure, these stories are funny. If you have a teenager you might empathize. But I also find it incredibly frustrating and somewhat alarming. It's not like we're talking about a toddler. Sam is a teenager. No, I don't think he is going to become a sociopath just because he stuffed garbage under the furniture instead of putting it in the garbage can. But come on.
As my kids get older I find parenting more exasperating. Don't get me wrong. Being a parent is rewarding and wonderful. There are moments of overwhelming love and indescribable pride. But parenting - the day to day management of it all - can be plagued by frustration, agitation and aggravation. And that is why I don't blog much anymore. At some point it becomes less fulfilling (and entertaining) to document the frustration. Everybody loves a potty training story but when your 10-year-old wipes his behind on the shower curtain, not so funny now, is it?
(OK, maybe it is.)
posted by Romine Family at 2:59 PM
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