July.
I can’t even believe it. Before we know it it’ll be the start of the holiday season. Time rushes by as an adult. As a kid, the summers were long and drawn out. Sticky and hot. Somehow the hotter the day, the more time seemed suspended. As if the hours would get stuck in the stale heat that left us bound in front of open windows, fans and Nickelodeon. We weren’t the kind of kids who grew up with air conditioning. But there were endless amounts of otter pops.
Yesterday, while waiting for my husband to run inside a store to pick something up real quick, the kids and I waited in the car for him. We had all 4 windows down and were only waiting for my hubs for about 8 minutes. You would have thought my children were gonna die. They couldn’t handle being hot. I couldn’t believe the fits that were thrown. They live in a comfortable, air conditioned existence.
Hmmmm.
This got me thinking. My husband and I both want to give our kids a life we didn’t have. We both came from families with lots of kids (me being the eldest of 4 and he being the second oldest of 5). When a family has lots of kids the money for extra curricular activities, sports, movies, and vacations is almost non-existent. We both wanted a small family so that we could afford to do these things with our kids, and raise them comfortably. Even having the TWO kids gets expensive! I honestly don’t know how people do it with more! Our friends with large families have often teased us about having more kids,
but we are confident in the decision we’ve made. But sometimes I wonder if we aren’t creating entitled and apathetic monsters in the process. I think that I am pretty strict with my kids. We have rules, chores, and consequences in our home. Yet, I still find myself asking so many questions. How do you take the best care of your children without spoiling them? How do you teach them work ethic and responsibly without cracking a whip? How can we instill gratitude and empathy from this air conditioned point of view?
Everyone has their opinions and techniques. Once upon a time I would have thought I knew exactly how to execute these things with my kids. Having worked in child care for 10 years I was confident that with every new stage I would know exactly what to do. Well, was that ever WRONG.
Bottom line? My kids are amazing. They have tender little hearts for people and animals that they have acquired in spite of me and my parenting. I know that God has a plan for their lives and loves them even more deeply than I do. I just want to get it right!
Sometimes it’s just hard to let to and trust.
karenperrycreates
I totally understand that fear of spoiling my kids. My husband and I took our 3 and 4 year olds to lunch today. Since it’s my husband’s birthday, we let them get milkshakes. Neither of us were ever allowed to order milkshakes when we were kids. Then, it occurred to me that my kids may only appreciate how special a treat is if it’s denied to them. It made me wonder what my kids will want to do differently than me and their father did with them. I guess time will tell!
mandimon
Hahah so glad to know I’m not alone 🙂 thanks for sharing and for stopping by to read 🙂
Danielle
Random yet applicable- a study was done overseas, I believe in Russia that we as humans in our society are losing our body’s natural ability to self regulate temperature. Years ago houses didn’t have AC or Heat and fans or fireplaces provided as much cooling or warmth possible while the body just had to deal and adjust on it’s own for comfort or handle a sleepless over-heated night.
It’s pretty interesting, since we have our cars and houses equipped with these luxuries now and are a few buttons or dials away from comfort we don’t allow our bodies to adjust to the discomfort. Makes getting overheated or freezing much more common and potentially even harmful.
Crazy, huh?