Today my kids were headed out to the bus. Liza poked her head out side and in her cheery voice said, "oh, it is spring, we can just wear a sweater." Liza is my optimist, she is always happy and looking for the good in all situations. This is a nice quality to have, however it makes her very difficult to parent. She rarely shows you that your discipline worked. She will find good in every thing you do... take away her Bratz dolls and she'll say "it's good that I don't have my Bratz this week, it makes it easier to keep my room clean". I would prefer that she say "BOO HOO, those are my favorite toys, I will never play with them at 11:30 pm ever again!". So, on with the story. Alex, my pessimist says in his grumbly pessimistic voice "It is NOT spring LI-ZA!" (as he puts on his winter coat and pulls up his hood as though there is a blizzard and it's 30 below out there). So I put in, "actually Alex, today is the first day of spring." "It is?" he replies happily, and then takes off his coat, and starts looking for a sweater. Now maybe this isn't the best example of the optimist vs the pessimist, but I just thought that this little story said so much about the difference between these two kids. It never fails to amaze me how different their little personalities are. Same parents, and all 4 of them are SO different. Everything is doom and gloom for Alex, life sucks unless someone can prove otherwise. Like the calender that said it is spring... then suddenly, happy day, we will wear a sweater. Silly boy. I always thought that I would just breeze through the parenting thing because I taught preschool for so long, and I took SO many classes on Child development etc. I was sure that I had it all figured out, but little did I know how it was to be with them 24/7 and how each little person needs to be dealt with differently. I've also realized why my sister was aloud to do things that I wasn't aloud to do. See, her personality feared things, me I was fearless, and frankly stupid, so I had more limitations put on me. At the time it seemed to be a double standard, but now, as a mother I see why my parents did what they did, and I am sure that the rules will change somewhat from one kid to the next. Parenting....... A tricky business!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Clint and I were just having this conversation - about how sometimes parenting is so much more than we thought we'd bargained for :) I agree - I taught a preschool class of 15 3 year olds without breaking a sweat and yet my three kids drive me to the brink of insanity. How is that?
It is so true. They are each so different. Something that works for one kid, will not work for another. I think we all go into motherhood thinking we know how to do it. Boy was I totally wrong. It is so much harder than I thought, but also so much better. There is nothing like being a mom.
Those funny kiddies. Jeffy is always wanting to play with the people who have "3 girls and 1 boy." We should get together. At least they can balance each other out with their optomism and pessimism. Alex seems flexible with his!
Really, if I knew what I was in for before having kids I probably would have been too scared to do it!! :) It is tons harder than it looks!! But with the incredible hard comes all the joy too and that's what keeps me going.
This post made me smile. It is amazing how well I know your kids, and how much I love them.
The first day of spring I wore a jacket, and wished I had worn my winter coat! Brrrr! =)
Post a Comment