Thursday, April 28, 2005
Kids!
Why is it when you finally turn the age that you think you have all the answers, somebody comes up with new questions?A while Back, Oprah, a Goddess of Good had turned 50, and since I have a couple of years on her as far as age, I looked at her celebration and paused for a moment to just stare in awe at the magnitude of expression for her passage of time. She shows me that my motto of "you get what you give" is not just fortune cookie language, but a practice that ages her well.At that very same moment I was receiving not only hugs and kisses from my newly rosy cheeked, just home from school kids, and now all three had quickly set about making me gifts of creations from their blow pen sets that gave me pages of messages that say, "I love You" and "Thank You Mom". Oprah may have her Tina turner and John Travolta, and a 400 lb cake, but I got the cream of the crop!
This morning I was not quite so sure that I was going to make it into the Perfect Parent roll call. As we set about to take off from school, my 5th grade Mistress of Manipulation had a melt down. Some where in between get your coat on, and don't let the dog out, she decided that I wasn't her driver of choice. A problem easily fixed unless the requested driver has already left, taken her number one brother to his school, blissfully unaware that the Demon of Indecision has taken over our child. Needless to say, logic was not going to play a huge role in persuading her to carry on with the requirement that she be educated for the day. So I quickly dropped off her brother number two at school, so that at least part of the family was complying with the school code.
Why do kids wait until you are exhilarated with the relieved expectation of what to do with all 5 hours of peace, when it's someone else's turn to remind them to cover their mouth when they cough and not to wipe the nose debris on their sleeve, when they pull the plug of contentment right out of the socket? As I stuttered to make good sense and pronounce enough punishments to last a lifetime, I could tell for some reason that she was yet unable to make the world aware of , she was going to be obstinate about this. Even the "I'm going to call the principal and ask him to come and get you!" wasn't working! I decided after I saw the drawn, dreary look on her face that something bigger than both of us must be at the center of this driver distraction. As she slumped to the floor ready to take on any amount of lecture, I knew something must really be wrong and that if ever a kid needed a mental health day, this one had her name on it.
I made one last effort to be the parent that I knew would live in the heart of my neighbor, who doesn't yield to any child's request for a change of schedule, no matter how desperate, I pulled out the big guns and called the afore mentioned driver, my husband! After a few minutes of hurried and rather muted discussion with him, where this Duchess of Discontent, was doing her best to read my lips, he came forth with the best he had to give by way of advice, which was " So what are you going to do?" That question and the fact that I couldn't offer the school any reasonable excuse for lateness that would put us beyond question, mostly due to the fact that the school had already been delayed for two hours due to the icy roads, so over sleeping was out of the question, I gave in. I called the school and did so twice, partly to make sure they heard me correctly and didn't call me on the spur of the moment where I knew I couldn't manage to present a calm, intelligent, response and secondly because I couldn't believe I was doing this after all my declarations of dragging her into the building by her pony tail!
I simply called and very clearly explained that she got sick on the way to school. Of course I didn't mention we hadn't even got as far as the car, and that her brand of sickness that day was, I was praying, a temporary bout of insanity.As my spouse returned, entering slowly so as not disturb any battleground that might have risen up from where he left, I thought he might offer either some words of wisdom to me, or at the very least, begin some intense investigation with her of what the heck was going on? The magical words of comfort that you could tell he carefully chose, floated through the air, and came to form the sentence, directed to both of us, as we stood there not quite sure where the neutral zone existed, " So where do you want to go to lunch?"
I was surprised to say the least, and for a moment you could actually hear the gasp hanging in the air, but after looking at that dear, sweet, frail but now confused face, I responded " I don't know, where do you want to go?"So, as I hugged her and let her know that she was and would always be the light of my life, and now as I look back on the events of the day, I reflect that, some mysteries of life might be okay to leave as mysteries, as long as they don't become the continuing drama of daily life!And just in case........., hubby can drive tomorrow!
Why is it when you finally turn the age that you think you have all the answers, somebody comes up with new questions?A while Back, Oprah, a Goddess of Good had turned 50, and since I have a couple of years on her as far as age, I looked at her celebration and paused for a moment to just stare in awe at the magnitude of expression for her passage of time. She shows me that my motto of "you get what you give" is not just fortune cookie language, but a practice that ages her well.At that very same moment I was receiving not only hugs and kisses from my newly rosy cheeked, just home from school kids, and now all three had quickly set about making me gifts of creations from their blow pen sets that gave me pages of messages that say, "I love You" and "Thank You Mom". Oprah may have her Tina turner and John Travolta, and a 400 lb cake, but I got the cream of the crop!
This morning I was not quite so sure that I was going to make it into the Perfect Parent roll call. As we set about to take off from school, my 5th grade Mistress of Manipulation had a melt down. Some where in between get your coat on, and don't let the dog out, she decided that I wasn't her driver of choice. A problem easily fixed unless the requested driver has already left, taken her number one brother to his school, blissfully unaware that the Demon of Indecision has taken over our child. Needless to say, logic was not going to play a huge role in persuading her to carry on with the requirement that she be educated for the day. So I quickly dropped off her brother number two at school, so that at least part of the family was complying with the school code.
Why do kids wait until you are exhilarated with the relieved expectation of what to do with all 5 hours of peace, when it's someone else's turn to remind them to cover their mouth when they cough and not to wipe the nose debris on their sleeve, when they pull the plug of contentment right out of the socket? As I stuttered to make good sense and pronounce enough punishments to last a lifetime, I could tell for some reason that she was yet unable to make the world aware of , she was going to be obstinate about this. Even the "I'm going to call the principal and ask him to come and get you!" wasn't working! I decided after I saw the drawn, dreary look on her face that something bigger than both of us must be at the center of this driver distraction. As she slumped to the floor ready to take on any amount of lecture, I knew something must really be wrong and that if ever a kid needed a mental health day, this one had her name on it.
I made one last effort to be the parent that I knew would live in the heart of my neighbor, who doesn't yield to any child's request for a change of schedule, no matter how desperate, I pulled out the big guns and called the afore mentioned driver, my husband! After a few minutes of hurried and rather muted discussion with him, where this Duchess of Discontent, was doing her best to read my lips, he came forth with the best he had to give by way of advice, which was " So what are you going to do?" That question and the fact that I couldn't offer the school any reasonable excuse for lateness that would put us beyond question, mostly due to the fact that the school had already been delayed for two hours due to the icy roads, so over sleeping was out of the question, I gave in. I called the school and did so twice, partly to make sure they heard me correctly and didn't call me on the spur of the moment where I knew I couldn't manage to present a calm, intelligent, response and secondly because I couldn't believe I was doing this after all my declarations of dragging her into the building by her pony tail!
I simply called and very clearly explained that she got sick on the way to school. Of course I didn't mention we hadn't even got as far as the car, and that her brand of sickness that day was, I was praying, a temporary bout of insanity.As my spouse returned, entering slowly so as not disturb any battleground that might have risen up from where he left, I thought he might offer either some words of wisdom to me, or at the very least, begin some intense investigation with her of what the heck was going on? The magical words of comfort that you could tell he carefully chose, floated through the air, and came to form the sentence, directed to both of us, as we stood there not quite sure where the neutral zone existed, " So where do you want to go to lunch?"
I was surprised to say the least, and for a moment you could actually hear the gasp hanging in the air, but after looking at that dear, sweet, frail but now confused face, I responded " I don't know, where do you want to go?"So, as I hugged her and let her know that she was and would always be the light of my life, and now as I look back on the events of the day, I reflect that, some mysteries of life might be okay to leave as mysteries, as long as they don't become the continuing drama of daily life!And just in case........., hubby can drive tomorrow!
