Ridiculous Behavior
She comes home late. She’s up until times I didn’t know existed. She sleeps until 20 minutes before she has to go work (which is 2pm). She leaves her dishes all around the house. She waits until she has six loads of laundry before she’ll do her wash. She comes and goes as she pleases, treating the house like a free hotel.
It’s Twitter that and cell-phone this and “Gotta snapchat.”
Why can’t my kid get their crap together and start acting more like the adult they seem to think they are?
She should be getting up in the morning. She should check her e-mail for important school and sports stuff first thing in the morning. She should do chores and clean her room while she has the time. She should go exercise with the time before work. THEN take a shower – a reasonable length one – and get ready for work. After work, come home at a reasonable time and squeeze in your Facebooking (I’m old, huh?), texting, and random Internet surfing. Hit the hay early, so you can get up the next morning and do it again.
Seriously!?!? Is this so much to ask?
Is it?
*sigh*
Yes, it is.
That getting up early, chores, exercising schtick… that’s us. That’s not them. That’s the years of “proper things to do” creating and maintaining a routine in our lives. And for many of us, if we look hard enough in the mirror, it’s likely not a routine that allows for much enjoyment.
I’ve decided that the ridiculous behavior my daughter exhibits is actually the world’s way of reminding me to let go a little! Have a little fun.
So, I say this: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!
…and start early if you can!
You know, we talk about how we’re not raising kids, we’re raising adults. What kind of adults are we raising that settle into the work, obligations, sleep cycle? We want our children to grow up and be happy, right? That means enjoying life, right? So, what kind of example are we setting?
Maybe… just maybe… it’s time to start having some more fun with our kids. Maybe we should be encouraging ridiculous behavior. Maybe we show them that life isn’t all work and no play.
Maybe – and I know this sounds ludicrous, but – maybe we should be doing fun stuff with our kids instead of just nagging them (even though they totally deserve it).
Inject some fun into life
No one remembers the trip to the grocery store, but most kids remember the trip to Stonehenge. No one fondly remembers being forced to sit down to game night, but how about a puzzle that sits on the table for a couple weeks / months getting a few pieces put in at a time? Can you spare an extra vacation day? Don’t drag them to the movies. Rent a comedy you know they want to see, get some pop-corn, and have an all-nighter when they come in at midnight. Take the next day off! You deserve a break.
My daughter won’t really remember the Christmas services and what presents she got what year… but I’ve got incriminating evidence of the year she got to throw the Christmas tree off the balcony. 😉
Take the long way to grandma’s and let them drive. Put the trash in a bunch of small bags and make a smiley face out of it for the trash man. Have dinner on the porch to enjoy the weather. Or screw shoveling and make a snowman… in the middle of the street. Give him a tie, too. Just make sure it’s your neighbor’s tie.
Find some way to make the menial, simple, day-to-day life a little enjoyable.
And, maybe if we start enjoying more things, having more fun – they, like us, will figure out how to fit all that “proper” stuff around the fun… instead of in place of it.
OK, I’ve got to go get this tree off of the lawn,
Now, you can follow my shenanigans on Twitter.
