As I sit here waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, I decided to come clean and confess.
I am not perfect.
I'll wait for the shock to wear off, you dear, deluded readers... Go on, wipe your eyes. Compose yourselves....
I know! It will be hard for most of you to stomach, but I am going to admit to something:
I have guilty pleasures.
Yes. Lame, silly things that I do, that I might normally scoff at if someone else were making fun of them, because Really? I am a tad embarrassed. Exactly WHY I am confessing online is unclear, other than this.
Embarrassing truth#1) I read the Earth's Children book series. Repeatedly. As in, I enjoy the storyline so much, I can just start the several thousands of pages series at the drop of a hat. It relaxes me! Before I completely scare you away, know that I skim and SKIM and SKIMMMM. Jean Auel needs a bit of help in the ole editing department. I have probably skipped entire chapters just looking for the storyline as I truly don't need to hear the extensive information about every. single. piece. of vegetation from the Ice Age. Also, she tends to repeat herself from the previous books, which, I believe is ridiculous. Nor do I need the graphic descriptions of sex and how the two main characters are so free and perfect for each other. Point made. Good sex. FADE TO BLACK ALREADY!!
ET#2) I don't always make my kids change their socks and underwear. GASP! Sometimes, as they're getting ready and I notice that Evan still has the socks from yesterday, I pause and say, in my head "It's not worth the argument. Let. It. Go. " And some days, like today? I forget that I SHOULD have let it go and end up in a screaming battle with a 6 year old. Brilliant parenting, eh?
ET #3) I like cheesy t.v. As in, I watch not only the port-wine-like musical romance movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's but also the Cheez Wiz shows from the 70's, 80's and 90's. I love me some Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire and Doris Day. Throw in a couple of I Love Lucy and Brady Bunch and I am a happy couch potato, smothered in cheese....
ET #4) Dang, this is harder than I thought! Not because I don't have tons of embarrassing confessions, but to admit them online? Steely hard, dude.
ET #5) I have the ability to yell. Scream, really. As in, I am hoarse right now from the level my voice reached this morning. I can't yell at Justin. He breaks down and cries. But Evan, poor Evan... He gets the brunt of my volume. He also is the one to do the most ridiculously naughty and disrespectful things. Of course, I then come back to the thought "you have to treat someone with respect before you can expect it in return." Sigh... THAT is my hardest confession. Not only to you, but also to myself. I am truly lacking in my anger management with my middle child. Every day, I say to myself "it will be a better day. I will try harder and be calmer. I will accept responsibility for my own mistakes and not take out my frustration on a first grader." And EVERY DAY he ignores my polite requests to get ready or stay away from his sister or keep his hands to himself. And you know what? It's tiresome. It's FFREAKING EXHAUSTING to repeat yourself for hundreds of days in a row. Not a good enough excuse, I know....
Ok. I am now thoroughly embarrassed and disgusted with myself. #5 really is awful, isn't it?
Make a blogger feel better. Tell me your bad stuff. Or funny stuff...
Posts
Poetry Month in our Homeschool
-
Sure, you *can *force a kid to read a book. Any book, actually. But you
*can't* force a child to love to read. You can't push and push literature
on them a...
11 years ago
27 comments:
#5 doesn't make you awful, it makes you human. My little daughter tearfully told me "You yell at me too much!" a few weeks ago. I've been able to rein it in quite a bit.
But she still does whatever she damn well pleases rather than listening to me (most of the time). SIGH
I think most of us can "fess up" to most of these. Except the socks and underwear thing...that my phobic little self just cannot handle;)
Mine...I like embarrassingly bad TV too....I'm a MASTER avoider of pretty much everything/everyone that is difficult...I eat my dinner right out of the pan sometimes...That's all I'm fessing up to right now. :-)
I'm still going through #5 a LOT and my kids are teens. (sorry, it doesn't end)
I'll fess up: I wash all my wash in big unseparated loads. Whites and colors.
I hide chocolate way back in high cupboards (for myself)
I don't bother to yell at my kids about the condition of their rooms. Each one has there own mega mondo disaster area and I just don't care anymore.
Oh my, confess my bad stuff... how much time do you have?
I will say ditto to Kai's "eating out of the pan", and occasionally drinking out of the milk jug.
And I agree, while #5 probably makes you feel horrible, it just means you're human. As for the child doing the opposite of what you ask, I think that's part of "the parents curse" in that you have children that behave exactly as you did as a child. It's now your turn to wish that curse on your child. ;)
3) Is actually a personality PLUS. Those were some high-quality movies, my friend.
And 5)? You are a human being. Things happen.
I think God gives each of us one child that can get under our skin and make us go nuts!
I think we all have a little #5 in us, eh?!
All three of my children push my buttons in different ways. Add them together, and I am TOTALLY mentally whipped by the end of the day. Honest to goodness, there are some days when I feel I cannot put one foot in front of the other because I'm convinced my children are trying to make my life as difficult as possible.
Seriously - get that book I reviewed on Root & Sprout. It'll definitely make you WANT to change how you parent. I'm going to read it AGAIN and have my husband read it, too.
Sigh. I also have much love for the earth's children series. I'm on The Plains of Passage right now... I've been reading the series on and off for years now. I LOVE THEM.
And I shall not be ashamed of them (or of my love for Judith McNaught's historical romance novels...)
I should be hoarse with the way I yell daily. I am glad I am not alone.
#5... yeah. Me too.
Also, my 3 yr old gets 2, maybe 3 baths a week. I use his excema as an excuse because he's really NOT supposed to have many baths - but still, it can get gross.
My 12 yr old's bedroom should be condemned. And it's not worth the battle.
MY room sometimes looks like it should be comdemned. THAT, I care about.
I don't change sheets often enough.
Hmmm, #5 is a struggle for me too. But I've learned that apologising to your kids for yelling at them can actually be very therapeutic, and can also help them be more compliant next time, because they realise that you don't actually WANT to yell at them, nor do you ENJOY it.
But yeah, you're totally human. NOT awful, just human.
I think many of us can confess to #5 a time or two. Or maybe even more than that. I have been trying to curb that for a long time now. Just being aware has been helpful. And of course knowing that my boys really do mimic my behavior helps too. I don't want them to treat people that way. I really have to watch myself. But man. It really is hard sometimes.
#5. That makes us very similar.
Good for you for fessing up. I've fessed up to just this very thing on my own blog and have felt terrible and relieved.
Um, yeah, I yell at my 2 year old on occasion. Yeah, that's right, she's 2. So you've got nothing on me, lady.
And I like cheesy tv too. About the ONLY thing I'm looking forward to about 3am feedings is the lineup of classic sitcoms on Nick at Nite.
I hide candy bars in the fridge where my husband won't find them, so I can eat them when he's not home.
Terrible huh?
Hey again! Thanks for your advice over on my post ^_^
#1! YES! I feel the same way. Like seriously, I don't even know the plants we have now, why do I care about the ones from the ice age. And the sex! PUH-LEASE! I don't need to know about that. But love the story lines. Skimming is very necessary.
And #5? That is my most embarrassing truth too. That and when I told Jack he was a chicken for going to school without his glasses on. He kept saying the kids would laugh and I said how would you know, you are too chicken to even try.
STELLAR mother over here, nominate me for mother of the year won't you?
NOT.
What! You're not perfect! That's it. I can never read your blog again. HA!
Seriously, Girl, I'm right there with you.
So my embarrassing truth? I might clean my apartment once a month...maybe longer. My room? You don't want to know how long it's been.
I'm right there with you on #5. I had a stepmom who yelled and I swore I wasn't going to do that to my kids, they wouldn't grow up in a household like that. Yet I've yelled. More times than I want to admit, or count. And I'm yelling at a 5 yr old. Ugh. I hate it. I feel awful afterwards and tell myself I won't let it happen again, but I'm still working on it.
I yell. I'm a yeller. I also loved Jean Auel's books, although, the later novels she lost me a lot.
I can reread Clan of the Cave Bear again and again. Even Valley of the Horses... Mammoth Hunters and beyond no more than once every ten years...
Let's see... we all snap at kids once in a while. I think it's good for them to know Mom and Dad are human... that said I also think it's good to apologize to them and talk about where the problem started...
Embarrassing Fact: My kids had been brushing their teeth with water each night for the last week because I kept forgetting to buy kids' toothpaste and they won't use the grown-up's.
Cheesy TV watcher here. Give me Brady Bunch all day long...sad but true:P
Yes, I yell too -- I always feel bad afterward, but you know sometimes all that frustration builds up and you just pop!
I try to walk away when my daughter is making me so frustrated...the problem: she follows me!
My guilt: I yell at her, "just leave me alone for 1 minute!"
I think everyone yells at their kids once in a while. I know I do! Sometimes I have to make a conscious effort to restrain myself.
I love old movies. Pillow talk with Rock Hudson and Doris Day? Wonderful! Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Love it! As for the yelling. Pshaw. We all do it. Anyone who says they never yell is lying. Or they're a mute. In which case, I believe them, but I bet they make some loud hand gestures.
Love Pillow Talk!!! And the Jean Auel books? I just re-read them in the last couple of years. I remembered them fondly from years ago... I had also heard another one was coming out...no?
Post a Comment