I love my kids to death, but when they make me wait four and a half hours (not counting the 30-minute drive each way) at a car dealership to pull out a broken DVD they jammed in the player while it was already loaded with another DVD, I question things!
I had been toying with several different blog updates in the recent past, but given all the mayhem going on in the world, everything I came up with seemed so inconsequential and frivolous. But then yesterday happened, and the dealership’s waiting room became a surprising respite from the real world. All I could think about was my kids and how my life has become the most inefficient, illogical, sleep deprived, state of being I have ever experienced. And that’s not even a complain! If anything, it has added experiences and humor that otherwise had no room to exist. I feel like in this very moment, I am living the stories that will be repeated over and over again when my kids are adults, and when I am old and withered.
Like when Asha recently painted her lips blue with a rather stubborn marker because she was pretending it was lipstick. Or when Asha and Arjun figured out that the ice cream is stashed in the freezer drawer and I am no longer needed as the middle man to access it. Or when they insist on hearing the story of Beauty and the Beast, but sans the beast parts because “they are too scary mama”. Or when Arjun runs around the house suddenly breaking out into “I am Moana” when I ask him to finish his dinner. Or just when I am getting ready to listen to a podcast, they intercept with their commands and make up the most absurd questions to ask the Amazon bot, and then break out in giggles when she says “I don’t know that one”. Or when I spend so much energy making their dinner and am greeted with an instant “yuck”. Or when they pull out the harmonica and play “Ajay’s favorite song” next to him napping. Or when I open my books and journals with crayon doodles which I am told say “I love you”. Or just when it’s bedtime, they pretend to play “airplane airplane” going to the “Delicate Arch, Paris, Hawaii, Charlotte, and Raleigh Beach”, in that order! Or when they wake up in the middle of the night asking to be cuddled. Or when they look at me with complete faith when I say that “mommy has superpowers”.
Do I wish I didn’t have to spend five hours at the car dealership? YES! Do I wish they would just listen and do as I say? YES YES! But then it would all be so easy, and I am afraid that just like anything that comes too easily, I might not appreciate it whole heartedly!
When I am with other parents, we mostly seem to exchange crazy and weird things that our kids are doing these days. Not surprisingly, these stories are shared with lots of laughs rather than tears, which I am sure was how most of us felt back when it was actually happening. It’s part of the process I think. In the grand scheme of thing, it’s all training to become one of the strangers I always complain about. You know the one, especially at the grocery store, who can’t stop talking and cooing over the kids and reminding me how time flies and that I should saver every moment.
Every. Moment.
And that’s just what I plan on doing!
You must log in to post a comment.