Who Put This BS Into My Daughter's Head?

Not talking about Santa nor flying colorful ponies here...

Two days ago I was picking my sweet child from the Kindergarten's playground and we headed for the park across the street for a Kaffeeklatsch with some of the other moms and kids.

Now, my daughter goes all quiet and whispers: "Just not like the last time: I am not going to tell anyone, else they would all come".

Very unusual words for her (yes, she is a chat box sometimes) and very untypical for a five year old to be aware she might have invited too many kids (too many for whom?) with whom she seemed to had fun.

At first I wasn't really paying too much attention to this, but then I noticed that there are tensions and antipathies between mothers. 

So I kind of suspect she might have heard - if not being told - to keep our "park meetings" small.

What I don't know is how small and whom I should keep out.

Because the unhappy consequence is that now I feel like I need to do a favor to some other mom, without having a special reason to do so.

I too, of course, find some moms nicer than others and to some I don't need to talk...but even so I don't mind too much sitting in the park and talking to them while the kids play together. Maybe this is because I haven't found yet one whom I hate so much that I'd rather go home.

Hopefully, when I meet that mom (and it might always happen, who knows?) I will be able to tell her "With all respect, I believe there is no chemistry between us, so we don't need to talk". 

I'd keep for myself the fact that I can punch people in the nose.

A Manipulator's Nightmare 2

Mom, you can't tell me what to do, because you're not my boss:

I AM THE BOSS OF MYSELF!

(heard from my five year old daughter last night)

Driving (Me Nuts)

I know what you are thinking.

Stop doing that!

If you don't have kids, you won't probably have a clue what I am talking about.

You might don't like kids and it would be unimportant; or you might like them and be in a happy relationship with your partner (very in love) and look at kids like these then look into your partners eyes and sigh.

I know all that!!!

I see you when I am running around and my kids are smiling and are quiet.

You want one of those - how C U T E...

But this is just part of the truth.

Mind you, I adore my kids; there isn't a more important thing I can imagine in the world.

Nonetheless I know more than the sweetness and the cuteness they inspire.

These two guys (and many other like them) can be a source of frustration, sweat and tears.

Ever being grocery shopping with  kids?

Admittedly, I had sometimes problems with my daughter, when she was smaller, mainly because I would do grocery shopping when she was tired or hungry, but apart from that she was always rather good and never made a mess in any store. She wouldn't touch everything around.

Also, I avoided for a long time buying certain products that she might have been able to  find interesting, and I could tell her stories when she tried to reach things like candies or chocolate.

I thought, erroneously, I had it under control.
Of course it isn't like that. It has all changed since Bastian can walk.

Most of the time I try to run errands with just him (21 months), to minimize the stress. He doesn't want to sit in the shopping wagon, unless it is the big car (above) or he wants to walk. Sometimes car and then walk, with the catastrophic side effect of me chasing a child AND trying to maneuver the ginormous car.

This child isn't as quiet as he seems: in the past weeks he turned into a little rascal with a surprising ability in grabbing and throwing things all over the place in a matter of seconds.

He does that for pure fun, I can see that; he just laughs happily and mischievously running away if I try to catch him. He is the happiest little monster I know. And I have to pick up stuff, hold him, try to find the right item from the right aisle...showing that I am serious and mad at him, but you know what?

I can't. In the surface I tell him he should stop. And I surely do my best to prevent him from doing some damage.

But inside me I am laughing with him; because he´s fun.
He's totally crazy, laughing his head off, doing whatever he will not be able (hopefully) to do when he grows up. He also comment on his own deeds with "Ah ah funny".

When I take both kids, you witness something I would define as tragicomic.

I put them in the car, hoping they can entertain themselves as long as I need.

But then one wants to grab the other's wheel, one pushes too much, one wants to take off his shoes AND walk. One wants chewing gum at the register and the other rushes to the cookie boxes and throws them up in the air.

Saying I feel embarrassed doesn't make sense anymore. I just got used to all that and I take it with sense of humor, but there are days when I am already very tired and it isn't all so smooth.

Still, I enjoy all this. I know it will change and I might be able to go through  my list one day or the other, without leaving before a supermarket Armageddon happens.

You might want to read this article about grocery shopping with kids