
THE DOMINO EFFECT
Written by Sheree Hoddinett
So it begins…another year is already underway and I’m still trying to work out where the last one went?! Gone in a blur. Each year seems to keep flying by faster and faster but every one continues to present new and different challenges. I may get knocked down but I just get right back up again and again and again. Parenting is simply a repetitive cycle at times and either you win some (none, it’s really none!) or you just plain lose, even if it’s to a child. I’m still pulling my hair out (explains why it’s thinning a lot) over the attitude I’m copping from my six-year-old. Yes, don’t worry, I know who the parent is in this relationship and quite often I’d rather hand the responsibility over to my darling daughter, she seems to have all the answers anyway!
She has perfected the eye roll but claims innocence and tries to pretend her eyes have something going on with them. Hands on hips and a quick tongue also feature prominently in her responses to not getting her own way. Lying is definitely not her strong point but she may have a good future in a role involving dramatic acting scenes or even business presentation where she may require a bit of artistic flair. While my frustration bubbles up, my pride also secretly gives her a mental high five for having some serious cheek and definite sass and spunk. I have no doubt, she will definitely leave a mark on this world, not sure what the impact will be though, haha!
I think the one thing I’m partly grateful for, is that both my girls still sort of listen when they know they are in big trouble. I’ve probably only got a few more years before their selective hearing switches on full time and I’ve got no chance. Well I can gleefully rub my hands together over the “fun” punishments I can dish out then, <insert evil laugh here>. Sometimes I wish I knew of a way to resolve things where I don’t have to yell at my kids when they have frayed my last nerve. Apparently there are these parents out there that don’t resort to yelling, how on Earth do you do it? I’ve tried counting to 10, taking a deep breath before speaking and even being super nice but where does it get me? Nowhere but up the proverbial creek without a paddle! And to top it off my girls just laugh at me. Sometimes it’s cute and other times, it just hits that bit harder!
But while there is often the negative side, I can’t bypass the positive, the bits where I eat chocolate and drink wine, no wait I mean where my children do something amazing. No really, it does happen, I promise. It’s not all doom and gloom and crazy yelling. That’s only “some” of the time. It’s things like hearing “I love you mummy/mumma” that absolutely floor me and the things they give to me. My big girl likes to draw and she is pretty good at her artwork too but more often than not there is a little message written on her drawings as well “To Mummy, I love you” or something similar. The pile is getting bigger and I fear I will have to “recycle” some sooner rather than later and that’s the hard part which has to be done in secret! My youngest daughter is a bit of a tough nut to crack at times, she’s stuck in that wanting independence but still really needs mummy phase and doesn’t always know which way is up, but boy does she still know how to melt my heart with a kiss and cuddle.
I have no favourite child, I don’t think any parent should, but each to their own. I have soft spots for different traits for each daughter. Although if you ask them I’m always choosing sides, sigh. There is no way of playing fair, someone always ends up unhappy, either one or both of them or me! But at the end of the day, the very long day, I wouldn’t change a thing, maybe a few things, but mostly I would just leave things the way they are. Head on over to my blog www.shereekim.com for some more light-hearted reading. Until next time, enjoy every moment, the good and the bad!