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Benjamin Moore Paints
Jul. 5th, 2005 12:50 pmPeople are painting my house!! It looksopretty!!
This is so exciting!
This is so exciting!
Jul. 5th, 2005
Alive At Five
Jul. 5th, 2005 09:13 pmOK, I don't get to do the smug parenting thing terribly often. Because my kids... well, they're a challenge. And I can see flaws and bare patches in my parenting quite glaringly on most days. But today I had a definite ugly little 'Nyah nyah I'm better than you' inner glow for a while, at Toys'R'Us.
I don't really get parents who are too embarrassed to discipline their kids in public. I try to do it sensitively, especially if it's discipline for something that's not all that vital. Eg, "STOP hitting your brother!!" comes out sharp and stern but "Daniel, please don't pick your nose" comes out discreetly if at all possible. But I never let them get away with stuff in public that they wouldn't get away with at home just because "Ohmygod we're in public these people are all going to think I'm a bad mother if I acknowledge that my kid's acting up and oh let's just pretend none of this is happening it's so embarrassing please let's just get home as quickly as possible".
Today at Toys'R'Us, Justin was playing at the train section for about fifteen minutes, and so was a little boy (maybe 7-8 years old?) named Brian. I know he was named Brian because his grandmother wanted him to go to the washroom. For fifteen minutes. "Brian, we have to go. Brian, we're going to the washroom. Brian, you said you needed to pee. Let's go. Right now. Brian, we're going to the washroom this instant. Brian-"
For fifteen minutes.
And the kid paid no attention to Grandma at all. Didn't even look up at her. He was playing quite well with Justin, so I don't think it was anything biological/mental preventing him from talking to her; he just had absolutely no reason to listen or respond, because there was no negative consequence whatsoever to his complete indifference towards her.
Anyway. I listened to this for a while, internally rolling my eyes as Grandma got increasingly strident, with nothing solid backing her up at all. And then Mom came along, dragging Little Sister (maybe 6 years old) and it was more of the same. "No, don't touch that. I said don't touch that! Stop touching it!! Did you hear me?! I said don't TOUCH!!"
Checked my watch, and it was almost time to go. I informed Justin that he had five more minutes, he nodded, and five minutes later I said, "Time's up, let's go-"
"But I want to play-"
"Five, four, three-" I started our countdown, which means "come here before I reach one or it's a time-out for you" and he was there instantly, chirping "Can we go to the Barbie section next?"
And we did. Then we left the Barbies and went to the Bionicles. Then to the checkout. Then home. Sunny smiles all around. Mom, Grandma, Brian, and Little Sister eventually showed up at the checkout line, both Mom and Grandma looking distinctly seething and both kids whining their heads off. Didn't look like anybody had fun there.
Mind you, in order to reach this Toys'R'Us bliss, I had to put up with a fair share of interrupted trips, time-outs in the car, and the occasional public tantrum in the last few years. But that was mostly over years ago, and eventually they learned that when Mama says "If you don't stop this innappropriate behaviour RIGHT NOW we're going home," she really, really means it.
I don't think Brian or Little Sister learned anything today. Anything positive, that is.
***
So much for the parent-storytelling; here's parent-hilarity, pointed out to me by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
medee6040, who somehow seems to get moms despite being wholeheartedly childfree ;)
Stickers! For Parents!
I've already started to make an icon out of the first one :)
I don't really get parents who are too embarrassed to discipline their kids in public. I try to do it sensitively, especially if it's discipline for something that's not all that vital. Eg, "STOP hitting your brother!!" comes out sharp and stern but "Daniel, please don't pick your nose" comes out discreetly if at all possible. But I never let them get away with stuff in public that they wouldn't get away with at home just because "Ohmygod we're in public these people are all going to think I'm a bad mother if I acknowledge that my kid's acting up and oh let's just pretend none of this is happening it's so embarrassing please let's just get home as quickly as possible".
Today at Toys'R'Us, Justin was playing at the train section for about fifteen minutes, and so was a little boy (maybe 7-8 years old?) named Brian. I know he was named Brian because his grandmother wanted him to go to the washroom. For fifteen minutes. "Brian, we have to go. Brian, we're going to the washroom. Brian, you said you needed to pee. Let's go. Right now. Brian, we're going to the washroom this instant. Brian-"
For fifteen minutes.
And the kid paid no attention to Grandma at all. Didn't even look up at her. He was playing quite well with Justin, so I don't think it was anything biological/mental preventing him from talking to her; he just had absolutely no reason to listen or respond, because there was no negative consequence whatsoever to his complete indifference towards her.
Anyway. I listened to this for a while, internally rolling my eyes as Grandma got increasingly strident, with nothing solid backing her up at all. And then Mom came along, dragging Little Sister (maybe 6 years old) and it was more of the same. "No, don't touch that. I said don't touch that! Stop touching it!! Did you hear me?! I said don't TOUCH!!"
Checked my watch, and it was almost time to go. I informed Justin that he had five more minutes, he nodded, and five minutes later I said, "Time's up, let's go-"
"But I want to play-"
"Five, four, three-" I started our countdown, which means "come here before I reach one or it's a time-out for you" and he was there instantly, chirping "Can we go to the Barbie section next?"
And we did. Then we left the Barbies and went to the Bionicles. Then to the checkout. Then home. Sunny smiles all around. Mom, Grandma, Brian, and Little Sister eventually showed up at the checkout line, both Mom and Grandma looking distinctly seething and both kids whining their heads off. Didn't look like anybody had fun there.
Mind you, in order to reach this Toys'R'Us bliss, I had to put up with a fair share of interrupted trips, time-outs in the car, and the occasional public tantrum in the last few years. But that was mostly over years ago, and eventually they learned that when Mama says "If you don't stop this innappropriate behaviour RIGHT NOW we're going home," she really, really means it.
I don't think Brian or Little Sister learned anything today. Anything positive, that is.
So much for the parent-storytelling; here's parent-hilarity, pointed out to me by
medee6040, who somehow seems to get moms despite being wholeheartedly childfree ;)Stickers! For Parents!
I've already started to make an icon out of the first one :)
hearing voices pt. 2
Jul. 5th, 2005 10:32 pmSo I told Chris about my difficulties with voices in fanfic from yesterday, because he was on call and he missed my string of expletives as I struggled to not hear pre-voice-change Harry and Malfoy while writing 38-year old Harry and Malfoy. I commented that it was a good thing that today's movie request from the kids was The Two Towers. No dichotomous voices for me tonight.
"Yeah, except you'll hear Aragorn," he says. "Well, that's not so bad, though; at least he's their age. ::thinks:: No, he's not, is he? He's-"
"87."
"Right. And you can't use Legolas' voice; he's about 3,000. And..."
... and as he trailed off, we both went through the entire fellowship of LOTR in our minds: Gimli's about 150, Boromir's the right age but he's dead by TTT, Gandalf is also dead and 3,000+ years old...
"... I guess they'll just have to sound like Hobbits."
"Yeah, except you'll hear Aragorn," he says. "Well, that's not so bad, though; at least he's their age. ::thinks:: No, he's not, is he? He's-"
"87."
"Right. And you can't use Legolas' voice; he's about 3,000. And..."
... and as he trailed off, we both went through the entire fellowship of LOTR in our minds: Gimli's about 150, Boromir's the right age but he's dead by TTT, Gandalf is also dead and 3,000+ years old...
"... I guess they'll just have to sound like Hobbits."