Its just one of those mornings

By Amber Green
February 28th, 2010
Section: Blogs - The College Parent

The kids are bickering and fighting one another, you’re running around frantically trying to find their shoes and the time is dwindling away. You’re pressed for time and the kids always seem to pick the wrong moment to be uncooperative with you. I know how it can be very frustrating especially if you know you’re going to be late for class or work. We as parents have all had a morning similar to this.

You’ve repeated yourself a million times and it still hasn’t registered in their little minds that mommy is going to be late. Instead, playing with their toys or picking a fight with their sibling(s) is all that registers. Yes, this is the when we scream out loud but only in our heads. Wouldn’t each morning be wonderful and smooth if we can just get our kids to flow with the routine? It would in some perfect world out there. But let’s snap back to reality; that would just be too easy for us as parents. Our world doesn’t work that way.

The car ride is even more excruciating. The kids are kicking the back of your seat having a temper tantrum because you said no candy for breakfast. At this point we want to pull every strand of our hair out. Once they’re dropped off at school or with the babysitter or daycare, we take a deep breath and just smile.

Not all mornings are like this and it’s OK to have a few during the month. After all, the life of a parent is not supposed to be easy. Parenthood is here to challenge us and our beautiful kids are here to test us.

So embrace the mornings where you can’t find anything because the house is a mess, the kids are screaming and yelling, and you’re mentally still asleep. Those are priceless moments.

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  • Karoline Steavenson

    LOL—I am sorry to say this but my kids didn’t fight with each other that much. I have tried to figure out for years why this was so. To confess, I think sometimes it was because they were not communicating as openly and honestly as they should have.

    But I also think it was because I taught them at an early age how to celebrate each others successes. What do I mean by that? I mean that when one kid would do something great I would literally share the good news with my other kids. It was whole-house news. I focused very hard on avoiding comparing one to another. Siblings really hate that. I openly and loudly rejoiced in each of their unique personalities and achievements.

    I know that’s something my parents never did with me and my siblings. I don’t know how it is in other families.

    I’m not saying I was never critical—I raised teenagers—of course I was critical sometimes. But I bit my tongue a lot when it came to critical speech.

    My kids and I were late a lot. I think that’s something schools, employers and professors in college classes just don’t understand about parenting, especially for parents who have more than one child. You think you’ve given you enough time to get everyone up and out, including yourself, but things go wrong. Things go wrong more mornings that not because they are kids and they forget stuff and they don’t want to go to school. I used to place things in their backpacks myself to help to avoid the “I can’t find it” drama. That is only effective until Middle School. By that age they are ashamed you are their parent, lol, but that’s very common!

    Also, in the old days, there were no passenger side air bags in the used cars I drove back then. So one would be up front, and one or two in the rear with a space between.

    Plus, and this is something I don’t see enough parents doing nowadays—there were no %&#@ TVs or DVD players in cars back then! When I see those TVs in cars it makes me want to scream. In my car we had books, pens or crayons, games, comic books, stuffed animals and paper. If you were bored you had to read, draw, or play with your stuffed animals.

    A stuffed animal is a great friend in the car for a child who doesn’t want to go to school. They are a comforting pal. What to do when the kid wants to take the stuffed pal to school with them? Tell them, “No—school is not for stuffed animals. His job is to wait here for you to return. That’s his job. He’s got to stay here and guard the car.”

    And my kids would eat breakfast in the car a lot—toast and milk in a covered cup and we’re off and running. Crumbs? Spilled milk? Who cares? Who am I going to impress with my used car? LOL.

    I forgot #11 and 12 in my previous list:

    11. Pray for your kids, for their protection and your protection.

    12. Have a sense of humor and imagination with your kids whenever possible. These are gifts you can give them that are free and will last a lifetime.