Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Somehow I engaged....
In this conversation today that started with this statement:
"We are SO proud, she is 4 and reads at a 3rd grade level."
My mistake, I asked how their child was and got myself caught in a world of "my child is so smart, etc. etc. OK, I have 3 kids, all fairly intelligent, some more than others but they ALL have great God given qualities. I am proud of each of my children and I equally love all of their quirks, difficult challenges and who they are. No, I am not perfect, I get frustrated with them and want to strangle them on a DAILY basis...hey, 2 of them are teens...who could blame me RIGHT? On the whole, we are pretty proud of each of our kids for who they are but not always the choices they make. Seriously when the almost 15 year old is sitting next to the almost 8 year old in the car and says "you are touching me" I want to jump out of the car at 70mph and run (yes, I realize that makes them sound like they are far from intelligent), but they are who they are!
I never know what to say to this conversation that continues on for a length of time that I am starting to get uncomfortable because there is NO more responses to their constant..."and she does this, she says this" and so on and so on!
It makes me laugh and sad at the same time. Are we really raising kids who need us to constantly brag about them to the point of driving others insane? Do we REALLY expect our kids to be smarter than the next kid? When can we just say, "they are normal, great kids?
One of the reasons we enjoy our shared vacation home in Huntington Harbor and our cabin is because we have NO phones, NO Internet, NO TV, it's what my husband refers to as "just being a kid, and enjoying it time!" One thing he says to other kids and friends who join us on our vacations is "leave your ego, and need to grow up fast and JUST BE A KID!"
We believe education is SUPER important (trust me, many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to pay for upcoming college) but being real, being a kid for this short time is SO important! I also think enjoying childhood amongst homework, school, church, and a busy lifestyle we subject them to is equally important!
I love that I engaged in this conversation today, it made me thankful for my kids!
So they aren't the next rocket scientist, I am pretty sure that there is a defense attorney amongst them somewhere with the constant need to debate that goes on around here when the word "grounding" comes into play!
link | posted by Heather McTaggart at 7:29 PM
1 Comments:
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Diane Powers had this to say:
Hey Heather, I think now Prayers need to be coming your way!! You poor thing...I hope everyone in your family gets well soon. I keep thinking that "God never gives us more than we can handle!"....We will keep all of you in our prayers and hope that Kelly is 100% well for her big day! Take Care.
L- Diane- January 9, 2008 at 9:07 PM
