Thursday, June 10, 2010

things i looked down on before i was a parent


i was a perfect parent before i had kids.
i just knew that i would never commit these horrible 'sins' that the families i nannied
for were flagrantly committing on a daily basis.

now is my time to repent & share my overly judge-y and oh-so-hypocritical thoughts
with you... because my sins have come back to haunt me in a very real way!

(please don't think i even BEGIN to think these thoughts about your families- this is my way of telling you that i learned my lesson!!)

these are the things i (unfairly) judged parents for before i had kids:
1. children with un-brushed hair



2. children with food or snot on their faces
(to be fair, i should have far more pictures of this occurring in my family. however, caroline is paranoid about having stuff on her face & will use any part of my body as a kleenex in order to keep her face clean.)
(it's not the dirt that i'm showing you... it's the dirt that's stuck in the SNOT. cute, though, right??)

3. mis-matched clothing
(i still have some control over julia's clothing, so not too much fun with her yet... and i can't find half as many pictures of caroline's clothing adventures as i should!)


4. baby-leashes
(this deserves a post of it's own, but who am i kidding? i'm doing good to blog at all!)



i must give some background on this... i have ALWAYS (even after having 2 children) thought that using a leash on a child was ridiculous. i mean, really? just get some control over your kids, right? here were my actual thoughts (i'm so ashamed): "if you were a better parent & would discipline your children, you wouldn't need a leash."

ridiculous.
i can't even tell you how much i have EATEN THOSE WORDS!
julia is the exact definition of a child that needs a leash.
except she won't wear it- she's that crazy about running independently into crowds, dense forests, huge bodies of water and traffic.
we tried the leash at the airport for about 20 minutes. there was so much laying down & shrieking & snot flying & hideous flailing that i was forced to remove the leash & place her in the stroller.

i am that parent.
she is that child.
i accept this.

sort of.

5. unhealthy eating habits in children.



this is my daughter hiding behind a box of candy... given to her by her father, of course!
and below is her drinking a soda- also given to her by her father. : )



this also bears some explanation. when caroline was a baby, she ate pretty much anything we offered her- green, purple, orange, red, yellow, fruit, veggie, meat. she was pretty open to new things and i took great satisfaction in my parenting skills. when parents would tell me their kids only ate macaroni & cheese, i would smugly think, 'well, i have always offered my kids a variety of healthy foods & they eat what we eat. no junk, no trash, no fillers, no exceptions.'

ha.
then they became toddlers & got their own opinions.
they will still eat enough 'good' foods that i'm not completely worried about their future, but i'm certainly not taking great pride in their macaroni & cheese, french fry & pizza consumption.

and finally:
6. dirty homes
for real! can you believe my arrogance? i really thought it was ridiculous how much dirt was on the floors & in the corners of the homes of families with children.
i think we all know that i've gotten over that.




if i was a really good blogger, i would go take a picture of my coffee table right now- it's covered in 'Mr. Yuk' stickers, christmas card stickers, and paint.


okay... feel free to judge me now for my judgmental, critical nature.
just be gentle with me- i've learned my lesson.
i promise i'm better now
(not perfect- i still have a lot of judgements to be broken of, i'm sure)!

i hope i didn't shatter your illusions of my perfection.
ha!

happy thursday, friends!

13 comments:

missy said...

LOVE this post!! Right there with you!!

jamie said...

Great post! I've learned to see the error in my own judgements too. Parenting does that to ya!

Greta said...

Hilarious.

Zog mom said...

This blog post doesn't make me judge you. It makes me love you even more becuase you are a genuine person who talks (and laughs) about life as it really is. I am right there with you -- if you add "dressing your children in dirty - but not visibly dirty - clothes." I miss you!

Todd Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Todd Johnson said...

funny and humbling...thanks for sharing

Cathy said...

I have not been blessed with your joys, but thanks for sharing, so entertaining the truth is.

Adriane said...

LOVE this post! I reason that the stuff underneath my couch is there for a rainy day. We find all of our lost toys and the kids are enteretained :) Thanks for sharing!

Anna said...

my child certainly did not have snot on her face all day nor did she have unruly hair. she ate green veggies at lunch and dinner and my house is spic and span clean, hence tomorrows post. NOT! i love you sweet friend, for your honesty and realness! hugs!

Brenna said...

Did I see a strawberry under that couch? Because I think I have the shortcake shoved in one of my cushions.

msrevolution said...

i am so with you on this post. point for point. the leash, the mismatched clothes, the messy faces.. all of it. i have eaten my words too. alas...

Anonymous said...

I came; I cringed; I laughed; I cried. This was hysterical! I too was the perfect mother...before I had kids. Really, like, the greatest mother this earth has ever witnessed! Now...I am greatly humbled, to say the least! ~K

Wife and Mother. said...

Oh, it's good to know how many other people were judgmental of parents before they became parents, themselves. I was totally one of "those people." Oh, how I have been shown the error of my ways!