A NEW DOOR OPENS
Written by Sheree Hoddinett
They say when one door closes, another opens, creating endless opportunities. I’d still like to know who “they” is and if I hear a door closing I instantly get suspicious, especially if it involves my children, because it means they are up to no good! Giggling behind is another good clue. It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this parenting gig now for over 6 years. It’s good, bad, ugly and sometimes downright unbearable and to be perfectly honest, I still have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Some days I can do everything perfectly, well maybe not perfectly, but pretty good anyway. Other days, I don’t even know where I left my brain. It’s like it jumps out of my head so it doesn’t have to deal with anything too complicated, haha!
It’s funny how we can have all the manuals in the world to operate machinery, electrical equipment, all kinds of modern technology; recipe books to cook and bake; instructions on how to put things together; but there is no written guidelines on how to deal with kids. Sure, there is lots of books offering advice out there, but they are generic at best, not specific to your child. I guess part of the “fun” of raising kids is waiting to see what they next have in store for you. And how you handle it, well that’s up to you!
I often look at myself as the cranky mum. My girls tell me otherwise but I do think sometimes they are humouring me to make me feel better. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for at times. But boy can they be manipulative creatures when they want to be. They know how to put on the tantrums, the sad looks, the crying, the angry turns and cheeky/happy moments right when they need to. I’m not saying it’s always at set times, kids have emotions and feelings just like we do. But we’ve all experienced the temper tantrum at the shops or the grumpy face at home when they have been told “no” or the cheeky laughter and puppy dog eyes when they want to score the last chocolate in the box!
My eldest daughter definitely has the eye roll down pat. She still maintains she’s not rolling her eyes but just simply “moving them”. She’s 6….help me! Haha! I must admit that despite the feisty and challenging attitude, she is an amazing kid and does a lot to help her Mumma out. I don’t always show her enough appreciation and I think more often than not she cops angry mum because she is the eldest. Life isn’t fair kiddo, but you’ll thank me one day! As for her younger sister, I think she’s possibly going to be a bit of a trouble maker, not necessarily all bad. Being the youngest she’s had to learn how to defend herself more (welcome to the younger sibling club baby girl, you are among some great members) and fight for her place, which as the baby of the family is not easy! But I love her spirit and tenacity, just not always when it’s aimed in my direction…which is often!
I have moments where I know I’ve done something right, well I hope I have. It usually comes in the form of a compliment from a friend or even a stranger about how beautiful and polite my girls have been. I have to quickly hide my snort of laughter and try not to ask if they are sure they’re talking about my children because I know that it’s true. Not always, just sometimes, because I often catch a glimpse of it myself. Mind you, I do have to keep reminding them, but it’s progress right?! I’ll just keep doing my best and hope that my best is good enough, especially when it’s only going to get trickier as they get older. Teenage girls are going to be my nightmare, but that’s definitely a story for another day!
You’ll find more of my parenting tales of “wisdom and wonderings” over at www.shereekim.com. It’ll give you a bit of a laugh and possibly a bit more fight to keep battling through even the toughest of days and there’s always plenty of them. Until next time, always keep smiling, especially in front of the kids because they’ll want to know why!!