Goodmorning!
This will be short.
I am listening to the Today show and the next segment is about "No Punishment Parenting" which has made me think that maybe I am getting cranky, or people have lost their minds.
Call me crazy, but I think parents have to be able to set limits and boundaries for their kids. It is one of the most important jobs we have. They can't do it on their own.
That's it!
Until next time,
Pam
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
It's not complicated....And, yes it really is
Hello All,
I first tried to write this entry after I came back from sitting on a bench in Brooklyn New York. That was two weeks ago. My first attempt began as I was sitting in the apartment that my husband and I have rented in Brooklyn, on my I-Pad, and it was annoying. I could get the typing portion of my I-Pad to work only when I put the title in, maybe it was trying to tell me it was a bad title because I have changed it here. I started with the idea that parenting and life could be uncomplicated if we allowed it, and then realized that there may be some people far more than me, but I think for most of us, even if we practice Zen like thinking and advanced Yoga, that life and parenting are often QUITE complicated.
The idea for this post began, like I said, while I was sitting on a bench two blocks from our New York apartment eating a muffin and enjoying coffee early one morning. I was watching all the life beginning to emerge around me. At first it was lovely and quiet and then the pace picked up. I started seeing the day begin, for real. In the section of Brooklyn that we rent in, there are many families and lots of them with young children. I observed Moms and Dads taking their kids to school. Many stopped at the same place I was at to get a morning treat and beverage. The kids all looked pretty excited because I was sitting outside a bakery. Actually, the complicated part probably started right there....healthy breakfast items??? Hmmmm...that is not why I was there.
It was fun and entertaining and actually sociologically informative watching all these groups and sets of people. Some Parents were very engaged with their kids, some were very distracted and one was outright frazzled. I myself have been in all of these states with my children during that early part of their lives, and maybe I even am at some points these days! Watching all these people made me think that truly, every parent wants the same things. They want their children to be healthy and well, smart, socially adjusted, good people, successful at life. That is probably where the uncomplicated piece stops....cause we all know how we get to that point, and how our children (hopefully) get to that point, is the complicated part.
As my observing continued, one Mom sat down and shared my bench. You guys know me, I am nice, for the most part, and offered her a place....she was the frazzled Mom. She had just gotten her daughter a muffin and raced her off to school, preshool...so of course we talked about that, and then came back with her young son and got him a muffin, herself a BIG coffee and sat down on the lovely bench we shared. Conversation began, and she told me her son had just been so sick, and she had to get her daughter to school and was happy to sit down for a minute or two. She had not been able to even take a shower yet, and was just glad her son was better. He had had a bad upper-respiratory infection and even had to have a brief stint in the hospital. So naturally, of course, she was still recovering as well. And that is how life and parenting gets complicated. You just never know what will be.
So, today when the complication arises, or if it happens to be one of the lovely days ZERO complications arise, go with it. Know that you will take care of anything you have to, that you can do it, that love will guide you, and when as the old saying goes "this too shall pass" and it has, have a large coffee, sit on a nice bench and enjoy life. Celebrate all the small, common, every day parts of life and smile. It will fortify you for "the next time"!
Life must be pretty complicated for me today, cause I still haven't taken a shower! :)
Until next time.
Pam
I first tried to write this entry after I came back from sitting on a bench in Brooklyn New York. That was two weeks ago. My first attempt began as I was sitting in the apartment that my husband and I have rented in Brooklyn, on my I-Pad, and it was annoying. I could get the typing portion of my I-Pad to work only when I put the title in, maybe it was trying to tell me it was a bad title because I have changed it here. I started with the idea that parenting and life could be uncomplicated if we allowed it, and then realized that there may be some people far more than me, but I think for most of us, even if we practice Zen like thinking and advanced Yoga, that life and parenting are often QUITE complicated.
The idea for this post began, like I said, while I was sitting on a bench two blocks from our New York apartment eating a muffin and enjoying coffee early one morning. I was watching all the life beginning to emerge around me. At first it was lovely and quiet and then the pace picked up. I started seeing the day begin, for real. In the section of Brooklyn that we rent in, there are many families and lots of them with young children. I observed Moms and Dads taking their kids to school. Many stopped at the same place I was at to get a morning treat and beverage. The kids all looked pretty excited because I was sitting outside a bakery. Actually, the complicated part probably started right there....healthy breakfast items??? Hmmmm...that is not why I was there.
It was fun and entertaining and actually sociologically informative watching all these groups and sets of people. Some Parents were very engaged with their kids, some were very distracted and one was outright frazzled. I myself have been in all of these states with my children during that early part of their lives, and maybe I even am at some points these days! Watching all these people made me think that truly, every parent wants the same things. They want their children to be healthy and well, smart, socially adjusted, good people, successful at life. That is probably where the uncomplicated piece stops....cause we all know how we get to that point, and how our children (hopefully) get to that point, is the complicated part.
As my observing continued, one Mom sat down and shared my bench. You guys know me, I am nice, for the most part, and offered her a place....she was the frazzled Mom. She had just gotten her daughter a muffin and raced her off to school, preshool...so of course we talked about that, and then came back with her young son and got him a muffin, herself a BIG coffee and sat down on the lovely bench we shared. Conversation began, and she told me her son had just been so sick, and she had to get her daughter to school and was happy to sit down for a minute or two. She had not been able to even take a shower yet, and was just glad her son was better. He had had a bad upper-respiratory infection and even had to have a brief stint in the hospital. So naturally, of course, she was still recovering as well. And that is how life and parenting gets complicated. You just never know what will be.
So, today when the complication arises, or if it happens to be one of the lovely days ZERO complications arise, go with it. Know that you will take care of anything you have to, that you can do it, that love will guide you, and when as the old saying goes "this too shall pass" and it has, have a large coffee, sit on a nice bench and enjoy life. Celebrate all the small, common, every day parts of life and smile. It will fortify you for "the next time"!
Life must be pretty complicated for me today, cause I still haven't taken a shower! :)
Until next time.
Pam
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