Before you have children, you formulate theories. I-will-never-be-that-kind-of-mom theories. Far from being the exception, I'm probably one of the leaders in this folly. I mean, when you're from an opinionated family like mine, there's no way you can NOT formulate them. Which I realize was actually a very opinionated statement in itself.
So...this list may surprise you. Definitely surprised me. I think the key is being flexible. And willing to eat crow. My child is 16 months old today and he's already proven just about every theory I had about parenting wrong.
* Child-proof locks are for sissy families that are afraid of everything.
I actually thought of this post while fenagling with the child lock on our bathroom cabinet. Seriously...when you live in a little apartment with nothing to do but get into everything...they become necessary. We even have one on our oven. When I bought the first set of them, I laughed at the one that keeps the toilet lid shut. Can't say I haven't been tempted to buy one myself multiple times since then.
* Only parents up on the latest fads with nothing better to do with their time teach their child sign language.
Well...when your son screams at you for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g...you start to teach him "please," "more," "all done" and "thank you." Out of desperation to keep your sanity. Then, as a stay at home mom going crazy for new activities to keep the boy occupied, you start working on learning other words - "light," "dog," "hurt," "scare," etc.
It's been so incredibly beneficial I can hardly believe it. Just this evening he made a new connection. He was hitting me on the head with his dog, very hard, and I expressed that it "hurt," and he got it! Actually stopped smacking me. We try to do "love," as well, and he just gives hugs and kisses instead. I'll take that. We're having a lot of fun with it.
* My child will never misbehave in public.
One word: HA!
Now...does he have to keep misbehaving in public? No. We're working on it. But I never in a billion years dreamed that my child would be the one hitting other kids with their toys because it was funny or throwing a temper tantrum in the eye doctor's office. Kids are actually rather unpredictable. Imagine that!
* I will not be a pushover mommy.
When your son looks at you with that mischievous twinkle in his eye and signs, "please," if my reason for saying "no" was in the least bit invalid, it suddenly flies out the window.
On a serious note, it's also far easier than I realized to just give in to his little tantrums or begging just because I'm lazy and would rather give him what he wants than discipline him. Challenging but necessary to teach him he can't always have his way.
* We will never own noise-making toys.
We don't own many. But he loves them. So...they're in his repertoire. They do make life a little more exciting for a kid.
I'm sure there are many more, but these are all my tired brain can think of at the moment. Just funny, though, how every day you realize you never knew what you thought you did before. I used to have theories about parenting teenagers, too. Guess where those are now? Out the window, in the dust bin, yeah....gone.
:D
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