oh my goodness!
(As Q & Town would say.)
Steel cuts oats with whole milk & brown sugar are the best breakfast cereal ever.
So yesterday I went to the spiffy new playground at North Clackamas Park with Q & K. There were these cool funnel shaped things, where if you talked into one, your friend at another one across the playground could hear you, all echoey. You know, like a telephone, but low tech. K & I were talking through them & trying to get Q to join in, but she was all "um, I can see you right over there. Why do I need to talk to you through this thing?"
K & I started talking about birthdays (naturally) after another mom asked how old Q was and K said, for the only day that it is 100% true, "two." We've spent a lot of birthdays together, K & I, seeing as how we've known each other since we were two ourselves (oh, whoa. Crazy. We've known each other since we were Q's age? All of a sudden I can't wrap my mind around it anymore). But K was never that big into birthdays. And me? I loved nothing more than to pick a theme after careful consideration and plan as many activities around it as possible.
K doesn't like the idea of having traditional birthday parties. The attention focused on the child, lots of gift-giving, kids hyped up on sugar. She especially doesn't like the birthday gifts. She said a lot of it has to do with the feeling of disappointment - if you don't get what you want - that she hated as a child.
She would rather have a family & friends get-together, and make it a party without the gifts part.
I can see her point. Especially based on her own experiences. And Q is a reserved child and being the center of attention wears her thin. And I love how thoughtful K is about things like this.
But! What if Q wants to celebrate like the other kids? When she's this age, I completely agree - there is no point in showering a toddler with tons of toys & crap. But personally, I love to give gifts. I love finding something that I know someone will use or enjoy. I don't think K is completely against gifts - because, hey, who would turn down hanna andersson?
I guess it brings up a lot of questions in my mind about parenting. About which I don't claim to know anything. But, what if your child grows up to completely disagree with you on some things? Would you make birthday parties an issue? What about if you hate the public school system but your child decides she wants to go?
Okay, this is completely muddley and random. But I'm really curious to hear other people's opinions.
Steel cuts oats with whole milk & brown sugar are the best breakfast cereal ever.
So yesterday I went to the spiffy new playground at North Clackamas Park with Q & K. There were these cool funnel shaped things, where if you talked into one, your friend at another one across the playground could hear you, all echoey. You know, like a telephone, but low tech. K & I were talking through them & trying to get Q to join in, but she was all "um, I can see you right over there. Why do I need to talk to you through this thing?"
K & I started talking about birthdays (naturally) after another mom asked how old Q was and K said, for the only day that it is 100% true, "two." We've spent a lot of birthdays together, K & I, seeing as how we've known each other since we were two ourselves (oh, whoa. Crazy. We've known each other since we were Q's age? All of a sudden I can't wrap my mind around it anymore). But K was never that big into birthdays. And me? I loved nothing more than to pick a theme after careful consideration and plan as many activities around it as possible.
K doesn't like the idea of having traditional birthday parties. The attention focused on the child, lots of gift-giving, kids hyped up on sugar. She especially doesn't like the birthday gifts. She said a lot of it has to do with the feeling of disappointment - if you don't get what you want - that she hated as a child.
She would rather have a family & friends get-together, and make it a party without the gifts part.
I can see her point. Especially based on her own experiences. And Q is a reserved child and being the center of attention wears her thin. And I love how thoughtful K is about things like this.
But! What if Q wants to celebrate like the other kids? When she's this age, I completely agree - there is no point in showering a toddler with tons of toys & crap. But personally, I love to give gifts. I love finding something that I know someone will use or enjoy. I don't think K is completely against gifts - because, hey, who would turn down hanna andersson?
I guess it brings up a lot of questions in my mind about parenting. About which I don't claim to know anything. But, what if your child grows up to completely disagree with you on some things? Would you make birthday parties an issue? What about if you hate the public school system but your child decides she wants to go?
Okay, this is completely muddley and random. But I'm really curious to hear other people's opinions.
posted by Jess at 8:45 AM
3 Comments:
as Q would say? what's this? just because she's 2 and cute that phrase becomes HERS?
It's still your phrase! Tot. But Q's been saying it lately, and it's great in her voice. I edited the post.
IF kids grow up with different ideas from you? I think it's more like WHEN. ;)
Already, Linnea is showing signs of her preferences and dislikes. She's a very social girl, so we thought she'd love being around other kids...and she does, to a point. But she's also perfectly content doing her own thing off in the corner while the entire group of kidlets is doing something together.
I think what a good parent does is allow those differences when they can (i.e. if the child's safety is not in question, if there's enough TIME to allow the child to try on 47 different pairs of shoes to make sure they wear just.the.right.one, etc.) and set firm boundaries when they can't. When Linnea moves out of my house she can do whatever crazy-ass thing she wants. But until then: we're a team. We work together on what crazy-ass things she can do.
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