Everyone should have a mother like me.
Jan. 12th, 2005 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hdsqrlLast night, I made the Mother-Theresa-like offer to babysit 4 kids for this mom of one of my daughter's friends, as it was the mom's birthday, and she has 4 kids ranging from 3-11, and she's been stuck at home with the littlest one non-stop for 2 weeks and was pulling her hair out. And yes, this would be the same family that we helped at Christmas, if you've been following along. How bad could it be, right?
When they left, my daughter came to me and said with all seriousness, "We're never going to do that again, are we?" It was a nightmare that lasted all of two hours.
However, I did realize that although I sometimes worry that I'm not doing a good job being a mom, when I encounter kids like these, I'm very quickly reassured that I'm doing well. At one point, one kid whined that no one would play with her. Being worried that they were being mean to her, I asked her what had happened. She said everyone else was playing Clue, and she wanted to play with the Polly Pocket stuff. Duh. I told her she had a choice...she could play Clue with everyone else, or play with Polly Pocket on her own. That led into a stomping fit, during which she loudly announced that she NEVER had to play by herself at HER house.
Oh...my...God. WTF??? The mom later made a comment that I got them on a good night when their medication was working...*shakes her head*...of course I told the mom that they were good, and everything was fine, and I left out the part where another one of the girls armed herself with a bow and arrow INSIDE the house, but what the HELL?!?!? What little girl can't immerse herself in a mental world of her own making when presented with tiny little dolls she can dress and undress?
I will admit, I had a fun time reading (or trying to read) books with the 3 year old, that is, until bow-and-arrow girl barged into the room, destroying our quiet little den of solitude, but aside from that, I'd be happy to never repeat that night's experiences.
As a treat to my oh-so-perfect (at least in my eyes) kids, we're going to go to Pizza Hut tonight, just the three of us. Alone. Where we can sit and talk like normal people, with normal voices.
I'm a good little mom. :) I should never doubt that again.
When they left, my daughter came to me and said with all seriousness, "We're never going to do that again, are we?" It was a nightmare that lasted all of two hours.
However, I did realize that although I sometimes worry that I'm not doing a good job being a mom, when I encounter kids like these, I'm very quickly reassured that I'm doing well. At one point, one kid whined that no one would play with her. Being worried that they were being mean to her, I asked her what had happened. She said everyone else was playing Clue, and she wanted to play with the Polly Pocket stuff. Duh. I told her she had a choice...she could play Clue with everyone else, or play with Polly Pocket on her own. That led into a stomping fit, during which she loudly announced that she NEVER had to play by herself at HER house.
Oh...my...God. WTF??? The mom later made a comment that I got them on a good night when their medication was working...*shakes her head*...of course I told the mom that they were good, and everything was fine, and I left out the part where another one of the girls armed herself with a bow and arrow INSIDE the house, but what the HELL?!?!? What little girl can't immerse herself in a mental world of her own making when presented with tiny little dolls she can dress and undress?
I will admit, I had a fun time reading (or trying to read) books with the 3 year old, that is, until bow-and-arrow girl barged into the room, destroying our quiet little den of solitude, but aside from that, I'd be happy to never repeat that night's experiences.
As a treat to my oh-so-perfect (at least in my eyes) kids, we're going to go to Pizza Hut tonight, just the three of us. Alone. Where we can sit and talk like normal people, with normal voices.
I'm a good little mom. :) I should never doubt that again.
