Just thinking

I was just thinking about the bits of parenting that I love, such as listening to my children in the back seat when they are in their pretend fantasy world... as my daughter "pretend" reads "Magic Tree House" books with her own versions of the story.

"The tree house spun and spun and spun and spun, faster and faster,' said Annie. 'What?' said the Knight. THE TREE HOUSE SPUN AND SPUN AND SPUN AND SPUN, FASTER AND FASTER!" said Annie. "WHAT?" said the Knight who couldn't hear well. He didn't know much of the sign language either. And then they went and ate ice cream and were happy."

(This is not an exact quote but you get the idea).

"Make the sound (said to her brother)!"

"Yee Haw Neiiiigh," (or something along those lines) shouts brother-boy, or is that the little pony?

Then this morning I was thinking about how quickly a spirited child can turn your evening or morning upside down by getting stuck on something they just MUST have or something YOU HAVE TO DO for them..... holding on for dear life and not letting go until they've beaten that dead horse into the ground (a few hundred thousand feet down)!

And here's what I think about that... and this is not directed at anyone at all I swear on a stack of "Magic Tree House" books (and trust me we've got 'em)...

I just think that anyone who does not have one or more of their own spirited children should NEVER EVER look down on a parent who does. Trust me, we work hard, harder than the average bear, every single day we have to decide which issues are worth dealing with and slogging through and which to let go despite our inner guts screaming at us to tow the line, we are continually working to refine our parenting skills in order to keep up with our child and their needs. And trust me the books and videos and websites that provide parenting help, were not designed for spirited children (except for the ones I've previously mentioned).

Folks who have what I call the mythical children (and yes people have told me they have them... fairly quiet, not easily ruffled, likely to go along with suggestions...), don't know from this kind of stuff. If you have a spirited child (or more than one), hang in there. I'm certain you are doing your best and working to do better. Sorry just a much-needed rant. I LOVE my babies -- both of them -- more than the world and we are all working on embracing our spirited selves!