Children... the days are long...

[kccc]

One of my favorite bloggers - see http://www.happiness-project.com/ - did a one-minute movie on the theme "The days are long, but the years are short." The Big Idea is to enjoy your children while you have them, because time flies, and to take note of the little moments.

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, having somehow acquired an eight-year-old when I KNOW he was just born a few days ago...

However. Some days are really, REALLY long.

This is one of them. Yesterday was the last day of school, and my husband and I allowed him to have two other friends over for a sleep-over.... this is a Big Deal and he's been looking forward to it for weeks. And he has been a TOTAL pain over little things throughout. If I hear "why CAN'T I?" whined at me one more time, I'm locking him in his room until he's twenty. (That's hyperbole for effect, for those of you who worry too fast.)

I should know better than to expect gratitude at this age... but it does annoy me to get constant whining when I've gone out of my way to be extra-nice. Each episode starts before I've recovered from the last, and my patience is GONE.

I haven't completely lost my sense of humor - I called my mom and apologized for all the times I must have done the exact thing to her, and to thank her for allowing me to grow up anyway.

And it is a good reality-check to see that all those annoying habits of your child are not unique to him. Other eight-year-olds ALSO occasionally lapse into baby-talk, leave the door open, and have to be told the same things several times before it sinks in. Some are even a bit worse.

I'll keep him. And, with luck, I'll keep my temper as well.

[kccc]

Just a quick the-day-got-better update.

I am grateful to have a place to vent. Writing stuff out does help to restore my sense of humor.

[la_loser]

I hear ya! I just had to explain to my spouse that as much fun as he and our nearly 4 yr. old granddaughter were having tossing a soft ball back and forth (and hearing her exclaim, "good catch" every time he caught it), that it was pretty likely that one of her random tosses with a lot more power than you'd think, was going to land right in the middle of my "It's a Wonderful Life" Bedford Falls lighted village. . . and if that happened Mama wouldn't be happy and you know what that means!

She said "don't worry Mema, it'll be awight" and he pooh-poohed my concern but luckily they quit before any harm was done.

So, yeah, long day here too!

It's great you have such a great perspective on it. It seems like yesterday that her daddy was her age!

Hope you can have a little R & R this week and enjoy the holidays!

[Blithe Morning]

I remember those days that would not end. I honestly remember once thinking about my oldest that I could throw him out the house when he was 21 with a clear conscience. Knowing that there was an end kept me going some days.

Guess who's 21 now? He's a Marine and will be deployed to Afghanistan in the Spring and the long days will start over but this time it will be till he comes home.

I will totally derail the sentimentality of this post by admitting that while I love having him on leave, I don't want him to move back home unless he were to get a job and pay rent and stuff. He's an adult and the parenting phase - the good parts and the hard parts - is over.

Hang in there!

[kccc]

LA, you sound like you know where I'm coming from!

It's the WHINING that just wears me out and tries my patience. Also, it hits double-hard when I think he "should" be grateful. And I recognize that's partly my fault for expecting overt gratitude from a kid. (More than the quick but sweet "thank you. Mom!" when we set it up.) A friend of mine says "Expectations are resentments under construction," and I think there's deep truth to that.

Blithe Morning, the parenting phase never ends, it just changes shape. Expecting adult children to ACT like adults and assume the responsibilities of adults is a really important transition, IMHO!

If you haven't seen the one-minute-movie I mentioned in my opening post, I do recommend it. There's a link on the right-hand side of the home page.

Here's to the holidays! Hope everyone has happy ones.