Yesterday I went to a seminar on ethics, and at one point in the program we were supposed to write down something we would NEVER do.
This really made me uncomfortable, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about parenting in the past nine and a half years, it’s to never say never. It made me think about all the things I would have been horrified (or at least very judgmental!) by years ago that don’t seem like a big deal to me now.
I’d like to go back in time and tell inexperienced-parent me to calm the heck down, that sometime in the not-so-distant future…
— I’d feed Sam full-sugar birthday cake on his first birthday (my apologies to Kate for making her eat cream cheese on whole wheat toast on her big day).
— Sam would suck his thumb at age five, and I would not do anything to stop it. (It’s comforting to him! And it’s really stinking cute.)
— My kids would drink pop on occasion, like on Sundays at great-grandma’s house.
— I’d let Kate pick out her own clothes starting in kindergarten, and she’d go to school in some very interesting attire.
— Sam would sleep in our bed pretty much every night.
— We’d secretly be just fine with Sam sleeping in our bed pretty much every night.
I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what I’ve come up with so far. What things did you say you’d never ever do?
Funny! Here is one for the future. HOLD ME TO IT. I will NEVER go without my hearing aids!
Man, I do recall feeling REALLY sorry for Kate on her first birthday! I don’t know what I said I’d never do. I’ve probably done it all though. I’m currently giving my 2yo an M&M every time he pulls his underwear down before he gets on the potty, whether he then pees or not. Sometimes I have to give him one to get him to put the undies back ON. You gotta do what you gotta do…
Ha, I could write a book of all the things I said I’d never do before I had kids! I was totally one of those judgmental non-parents. And I haven’t done it yet, but I’m not ruling it out, but putting my kid on a leash is very tempting.
One of the best pieces of parenting advice I ever received was “never say never.”
I said I would never hold a kid while using the “facilities.” Certainly, they can wait 5 minutes. NO THEY COULDN’T.
Here’s a weird one: I never thought I would be getting my kids licensed product stuff, like clothes, backpacks, toys, whatever. Because it is tacky. But hello, this is what kids like! It makes them happy! So what if it is not aesthetically pleasing.