Parent of the Year

Well, I've probably used this title already...but judging by the fact that the last post was in September, I doubt that it matters if I'm using duplicate titles at this point. I knew this would be a quasi frequent activity for me, but it has gone the way of all things I enjoyed in my freetime...like exercise and sleep. I even had a really great start to a post once...I think I wrote it on the airplane...or in a hotel room. It was a catchy little tale about my daughter who took off her shoes at church and gave them to the Pastor to "give to my mommy, please". It was classic Little Miss, and quite well written, I might add! But alas, burried in the depths of my work computer.


Life has been busy. Buddy turned five last month, which my father was nice enough to point out to me makes me old. But, judging from the patch of grey hair I'm sporting, he's probably closer to the truth than I care to admit. Yes, I said grey hair. I've been told by the girl who cuts my hair that it "blends in nicely". That is totaly BS but I think she gets that I'm too cheap to "paint it" like my five year old would say. No one at 27 had a grey patch of hair that "blends in nicely". I was always going to go grey gracefully. That's when I thought it would happen in my late 30s...not my late 20s. But, as usual, I digress.

Buddy is five and will be a young kindergartener. Seriously, I may be sportying a fancy new college degree, but I still don't know if that word uses a 't' or a 'd'. "gardener" just seems wrong though. I can't spell, and i'm okay with that. Yes, so he will be young for his grade, which I've been told is horrible parenting. I've also been told I starve my children. But whatever. They look ok to me. ;) He's excited but nervous. He has a bit too much of his mother in him for his own good. (they both do, actually) He's so into how things work. The other day he would have taken the hair clippers apart if I would have let him.


Little Miss is so much like a smaller version of myself it gets me in trouble. For instance, what I thought was a genious moment a few months back when she remembered she hadn't finished her garlic bread when she was in bed, I told her I would let her eat her garlic bread if she gave me both her dolls. No WAY would she go for that deal. Yeah. I was wrong. She gave me the dolls and "

SON OF A MONKEY. I just deleted like three paragraphs!! Now the world will never know about the time I nearly canceled Little Miss' birthday on account of a poor worded threat by a then-two year old who called my bluff. Seriously. Stupid auto save clicked on two seconds after the delete.

Anyhoo, long and short is the girl got her freaking garlic bread and I was stuck with two dollies I never thought she'd give me. Yes, she is the spitting image of myself. I foresee years of difficulty with this one. Likely we will quit talking in about 2019 when she turns 12. I am guessing that she will like her father and that her and I will begin speaking again sometime around 2027 when she's 20...if I'm lucky. The thing is that the stubborn streak runs in both of us. The same one, too. So, when I dig in my heels, she digs in hers. I say three more bites of broccoli, she swats at me or throws me one of her classic looks. I still win (I mean, she is only 3) but I sense my tactics are going to need to change somewhere in the next five years if I don't want a constant battle on my hands. It's not that i want her wimpy (though often I do), it's mostly that I want to win. Oh wait, that sounds bad. I want her to be strong and to be determined, I'd just appreciate if it was only toward school work, or a career or something. You know, something useful, not something opposed to my fantastic leadership ability. But, I am quite sure this one will go far. (I may not live to see it...however!)

Buddy, too, has a mind that is facinating. However, though he has a stubborn streak, he is a much more sensative personality than either Little Miss or myself. Monday night, I think he would taken the hair clippers apart to see how they worked, if I would have let him. Building, measuring, making, thinking, all of these are things that the kid just eats up. It is interesting to watch children. While nuture may allow them to flourish at their natural gift, every one has such a unique and special skill and gift set, something I have absolutely no control over. It is wonderful and horrible at the same time.

In my four week break before the masters classes start, I've been able to walk at night. Not only does walking or running or some combination thereof help me get rid of the stress and the frustration from work, but by the last 10 minutes I almost always find myself overcome with the realization of how blessed I truly am and how wonderful it is to be living my life with my family right now. How thankful I am that I can leave stacks of papers on my desk to make it to three sets of swimming lessons every day (yes, we only have two kids). That I can, crappy parenting or not, still be able to be a part of the big things and that we are all healthy enough to enjoy them. Blessed beyond what I deserve, certainly.

So, why the Parent of the Year? Well, because my mother informed me AFTER I booked my tickets that the hubs and I will be on vacation over Buddy's first ever school Christmas program. While I would like to say that video will be just as good....

I suppose I could still hold him back a year! :)