This week my 5 year old son is on Spring Break. God bless Spring Break. I despise Spring Break. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with my children, really, I do. I'm just not fan of shrieking, screeching fights breaking out between a 5 and 3 year old before 7 AM over one specific toy, or refusals to use a public restroom unless I "promise not to flush" until they are outside the restroom...even though I'm not the one who had to go, or my older son (the 5 year old):
bringing EVERY bleeding, crying neighborhood child who has fallen off his or her bike/scooter/skate board to our door, even though their mothers are home, because "my Mama's got a red cross card in her wallet", or bringing home every neighborhood child he wants to play with so he can give them whatever kind of goodies we have in the house (I'm an advocate of sharing, but if the kids are hungry, their Moms are home, they should go eat lunch...I am not the neighborhood lunch wagon), or my son coming in every 5 minutes asking for more snacks/drinks for his friends (and can he give so-and- so the spiderman cup?), or my son coming in every 15 minutes or so because someone knocked him down, or called him a name, or wouldn't play with him (probably because after the 2nd snack for 5 children [4 of whom are not my own], I said no, two is plenty).
I'm also not a fan of being deemed the judge for disputes between neighborhood children. It goes something like this:
*Clairessa is sitting peacefully in front of the TV, watching Desperate Housewives, contemplating how much her ribs hurt because of her burgeoning pregnant belly, when, for about the 800th time within the space of 2 hours, the doorbell rings...incessantly, punctuated by knocks on the door. She hefts herself off the couch with great effort, comes to the door and is bombarded with the story of woe from one child, while the alleged offender stands there, shaking their head, and frequently interrupting with exclamations of, "Nuh-uh!" and "You're lying!" Why they come to her, she's not sure, because THESE KIDS HAVE PARENTS, AND THEY'RE HOME!!!!*
Help me out here. These kids live in fear of my reprimands, but mooch food, and come tattling on each other to me for some of the pettiest things I have ever heard. So...is it just that they don't feel like going inside to consult with their own parents, or...???? I am truly mystified.
I love children, and I believe they are all gifts from the Lord, but I also believe that parents need to be responsible for the upbringing of their own children, and I despise the "it takes a village" philosophy. I honestly want as little "village" interference as possible! No, it does not take a village, it takes a parent who pays attention and is not willing to put up with shenanigans, a parent who is willing to discipline in love, not anger (which I'll admit, I often struggle with). Am I just being cranky about other people's kids, or what?
Sorry, can't think of a scripture that really applies to this particular entry. If you can think of one, post the scripture and reference in the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
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Ah you are too funny when you write. I can just picture this. Thankfully my child is too young still to have this problem. Although he does tend to feed his food to his friend Julian and giggles when Julian actually eats from his hand. Thankfully there are no neighborhood kids where we live. We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThe probably go to you because they know you can't ground them. ;)
Haha! You're funny! You're probably right...they come to me because I can't ground them. LOL
ReplyDeleteNo you are not being too cranky. All last summer I had a neighborhood kid show up at my house almost every stinking day, for the express purpose of eating my food and playing our xbox. He was supposedly my one son's friend, but they fight like you wouldnt believe. If I sent him home, he'd be back less than an hour later. His mother didn't let him or any of my kids play in his house. They were always here, and I SWEAR she sent him over KNOWING it was time to eat lunch. I didn't know my house had a sign that said "Heather's All You Can Eat Buffet" on it.
ReplyDeleteThis is the parent that sent my son home this past winter soaking wet in 25 degree weather, frozen solid, crying his eyes out. After they'd been outside over an hour because even though it was freezing, they weren't allowed in the house. No phone call, didn't take him in to dry him off, didnt drive him home even. OMG...
Oh no, she DIDN'T! I would have called her up and given her a piece of my mind, and let her know that you were calling CPS. What kind of people lock their CHILDREN out of the house???? It's one thing to kick them out to play when they're being obnoxious, but you have to let them back in. They LIVE there! And for her to send your son home soaking wet, without calling you so you could pick him up? I take it back, I would not have called her, I would have driven over to her house and ripped her a new navel! THEN i would have called CPS!
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