Is there something you do for your kids that you didn't get as a child? Was there something you missed in your childhood that you feel compelled to offer your children? Or maybe there was something that your parents did for you that you said you would never do for your own?
I have many. I grew up with a single mom who worked. As a result, she was usually gone to work by the time we got up for school. She also wasn't home by the time we got home from school,either. I lived in northern Ontario and it was bitterly cold in the winter. We walked anyway. No, we didn't walk up hill both ways, or barefoot, but.........
As a result, I get up every morning with my kids.They know how to make their own breakfast and lunches. They know how to get dressed and brush their teeth and hair. They are quite capable of getting themselves to school. Yet, every morning I get up with them. I keep them company and hurry them along. I drive them to school every morning.
They have now come to expect this and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing them any favors? I mean it's one thing to keep them company, but are they learning the skills of being able to get up and get going on their own. Eventually I suppose they won't want the company and will scoot out the door before I've even had my first cup of coffee. But in the meantime, I will continue on. It's now a habit for me and I'm hoping that they will look back on this and appreciate it.
Just my morning thoughts..................
I have many. I grew up with a single mom who worked. As a result, she was usually gone to work by the time we got up for school. She also wasn't home by the time we got home from school,either. I lived in northern Ontario and it was bitterly cold in the winter. We walked anyway. No, we didn't walk up hill both ways, or barefoot, but.........
As a result, I get up every morning with my kids.They know how to make their own breakfast and lunches. They know how to get dressed and brush their teeth and hair. They are quite capable of getting themselves to school. Yet, every morning I get up with them. I keep them company and hurry them along. I drive them to school every morning.
They have now come to expect this and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing them any favors? I mean it's one thing to keep them company, but are they learning the skills of being able to get up and get going on their own. Eventually I suppose they won't want the company and will scoot out the door before I've even had my first cup of coffee. But in the meantime, I will continue on. It's now a habit for me and I'm hoping that they will look back on this and appreciate it.
I grew up the same way you did and I was just telling a new nanny at the school gate this afternoon that I am always there first. I said, "I think I got forgotten or picked up last so many times, that I never want Jakob to come out and not see me there waiting." So I arrive at 3pm on the dot and he doesn't get out until 3:15pm.
ReplyDeleteFunny I was the opposite and while I loved counting in my mom in the winters i longed to walk on my own with my peers. Funny how it changes depending. When my kids were in school I was somewhere in the middle for pick up and they also got used to relatives picking them up too. But in these heartless northern winters I am so glad parents pick up their kids...I remember having to walk a couple times and it was awful in minus twenty.
ReplyDeleteFor me I would say being understood temperament wise and having conversations about that along with cozy wonderful environments. I think I more than make up for that. My kids tell me sometimes to stop explaining:) And I understand when they are cranky because the day is dreary and their clothing tag was digging into their skin:)
You sound like a very loving mom. Keep this post so they know the ways you loved them:) Ha ha- that's what I do when I write a good one about my kids. They need to know we were thoughtful in the ways we knew how to be:)