Thursday, February 2, 2017

Other people's kids

I spend a good amount of time checking out other people's kids. You know, like, kid envy maybe? I see these other kids and they seem so sweet and I think, "Why can't my kid be like that?" And then I remind myself, "Well...you aren't the kindest. You don't really speak in a sweet voice except to your dog..." And then I sort of shrug my shoulders and sigh.


The good thing is, right now, I can see that my child is not the only one! And I am not alone and her behavior is not really just about me. A mother of a very sweet boy shared with me the other day that he talks back and sasses all the time. For example, she asked him once to turn the light off for her and he replied, "I'll turn the light off in your head." This boy is seven.

And just the other day I was witness to a conversation between a little girl who has always just seemed so sweet and her mother who is even more sweet and the little girl says, "I am starving!" Mother replies, "Oh, I bet you are. We will be having dinner soon." Little girl says, "Did you bring anything in the car?" mom says no. girl says, "You never bring anything!" Mom says, "Oh, I have some nuts." Not the right answer according to the little girl who gets a bit mad and shoves her mom's face and says, "That's not a snack!" I mean, certainly there was a learning moment there. If it were me, I might've grabbed her hands and snarled. The mom simply said in a very stern voice, "ouch, that was a bit too hard." I get it. I can work at keeping my cool.

So other people's kids do act disrespectful sometimes. It's an age thing and I am not alone. I don't need to get mad, I don't need to react. It's just a phase.

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