I was a totally AWESOME parent, before I had kids. I mean that...I had visions of how things would go, how in control I would be, how organized I'd keep our little brood. How they'd always go to bed on time, after I read them just one more night time story. How they'd grow up slowly and would aspire to show pigs in 4-H, play football, volleyball, baseball, be farmers, and eventually, of course, State FFA Officers. Because, duh. We were their parents, and SURELY these children would adore us the way we adore and admire our parents and would want to be just like us, right? Surely they would listen to our every word, and do what we asked, the first time we asked and pick up after themselves and use awesome manners and be the absolutely joy of our lives, right?
Except, I forgot one little minuscule detail, maybe two. One being, I probably didn't really adore/admire/want to be just like my parents....until I had kids of my own. And two...I didn't yet have kids. Now that I do....just go ahead and strike through at least 2/3 of that top paragraph. This is much more my philosophy on parenting:
My favorite line is to say/ask/scream "NO ONE TOLD ME THIS AT THE BABY SHOWER!!" , but that's for another blog posts, because those stupid parties are just for people to tell you LIES about how amazing it's going to be to be a Mom, and not tell you ANY of the crap!!
There's good news here though -- it's not all crap. In fact, it's really probably only 1/4 crap, so it's manageable. And honestly, there is joy to be had in watching your kids fulfill THEIR dreams. Their aspirations. Do what THEY find exciting. It's so enjoyable to watch THEM succeed, to see that lightbulb go off. Being proud of your people is pretty amazing.
Eating crow: Exhibit A: 4-H Calves. I knew from a young age, that Colton would want to be involved in 4-H. He loves the fair as much as his geeked out Momma does. I pray still that he'll want to be in FFA someday, and I have high hopes that it will all fall into place. However, for the past 7 years of his life, we've taken a day off of work to attend the swine show. We never miss a Grand Drive on Tuesday evening of the fair. We've seen bits of the Cattle show...if we were around, and I've always LOVED the smell of the wood chips in the cattle barn. As for us ever actually showing calves....pssh...ya right. We were a swine family. WRONG.
Here we are....5 months into a project, learning so much as we go (yes we....Colton, Jason and I are ALL learning and Em & Keaton by sheer default.) But watching his confidence grow, and that light bulb go off, and watching him be an interested learner in the process...heart melting. I'll eat crow a thousand times over, if the outcome is as enjoyable as this one. (Newsflash: It's probably not).
We are grateful for the Bell's taking us under their wing a bit, and being able to teach us. We have so much to learn about how to fit a calf and make it pretty -- but we're learning. I'm so proud of Colton and Jason for walking this road together and look forward to so many more memories made in that cattle barn. Or who knows...come August we may say screw it and go back to pigs. Or goats. Or chickens, heck, I don't know. But this year, this year we're doing cattle and we are loving it. So far! ;)
Except, I forgot one little minuscule detail, maybe two. One being, I probably didn't really adore/admire/want to be just like my parents....until I had kids of my own. And two...I didn't yet have kids. Now that I do....just go ahead and strike through at least 2/3 of that top paragraph. This is much more my philosophy on parenting:
My favorite line is to say/ask/scream "NO ONE TOLD ME THIS AT THE BABY SHOWER!!" , but that's for another blog posts, because those stupid parties are just for people to tell you LIES about how amazing it's going to be to be a Mom, and not tell you ANY of the crap!!
There's good news here though -- it's not all crap. In fact, it's really probably only 1/4 crap, so it's manageable. And honestly, there is joy to be had in watching your kids fulfill THEIR dreams. Their aspirations. Do what THEY find exciting. It's so enjoyable to watch THEM succeed, to see that lightbulb go off. Being proud of your people is pretty amazing.
Eating crow: Exhibit A: 4-H Calves. I knew from a young age, that Colton would want to be involved in 4-H. He loves the fair as much as his geeked out Momma does. I pray still that he'll want to be in FFA someday, and I have high hopes that it will all fall into place. However, for the past 7 years of his life, we've taken a day off of work to attend the swine show. We never miss a Grand Drive on Tuesday evening of the fair. We've seen bits of the Cattle show...if we were around, and I've always LOVED the smell of the wood chips in the cattle barn. As for us ever actually showing calves....pssh...ya right. We were a swine family. WRONG.
Here we are....5 months into a project, learning so much as we go (yes we....Colton, Jason and I are ALL learning and Em & Keaton by sheer default.) But watching his confidence grow, and that light bulb go off, and watching him be an interested learner in the process...heart melting. I'll eat crow a thousand times over, if the outcome is as enjoyable as this one. (Newsflash: It's probably not).
We are grateful for the Bell's taking us under their wing a bit, and being able to teach us. We have so much to learn about how to fit a calf and make it pretty -- but we're learning. I'm so proud of Colton and Jason for walking this road together and look forward to so many more memories made in that cattle barn. Or who knows...come August we may say screw it and go back to pigs. Or goats. Or chickens, heck, I don't know. But this year, this year we're doing cattle and we are loving it. So far! ;)
Comments
Post a Comment