Cursing Around the Little One
Sometimes, I can't help it. I really try, but I slip. I drop something or I smash my foot (because I'm a horrible clutz), and I let out "shit!" or "damn it!" or whatever else I shouldn't be saying in front of a little girl that is quickly learning all the words in my vocabulary. My wife is a teacher; she has run into the occasional student who curses like a sailor. What kid doesn't imitate their parents? They don't know any better. I would feel ashamed of myself if my daughter ever was that way. I know it doesn't matter to some people, but it matters to me.
I think the trick is not cursing ever. Not just when she's in the room, but all the time. Maybe I should get a swear jar or something. Do those help? Every time I curse, I plunk a quarter in the jar. Eventually, I should learn not to do it, right? Old habits die hard, so I'm really going to have to be conscious of this all the time.
D.
The Santa Claus Debate
Do you know people that say once they have kids or once their kids are older, they won't be telling them about Santa Claus? I know a few. They claim it's lying to your kids. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Come on, seriously? Listen, there's only a short while in your life that you believe in things like magic. Why would you rob your kids of that? Think about it, when you hit probably 10 years old at the latest, you don't believe in Santa anymore, you don't believe in magic, flying reindeer, you don't believe in wizards or elves or magic. That's not a long time in one's life to believe in the impossible, to believe in something fairy-like and wonderful.
Why would you take that away from your kids? So what if it's a big fib? So what if Santa Claus isn't really real? Does it matter? Do any of these people actually resent their parents for telling them that fib? I can't imagine a single one of them, upon discovering that Santa Claus was make believe was angry with their parents. They probably didn't care. The discovery is usually so gradual, that hardly any of us could really mark the occasion upon which we figured it out. I think I kind of gradually came to the conclusion, but I remember keeping the lie going for awhile even after I knew, because I enjoyed the fib enough that I wasn't ready to let it go.
So, if you're a reader and you're one of these people who thinks parents shouldn't "lie" to their kids about Santa, can you tell me your reasoning? You can't act like we're always completely honest with our kids. We can't be. We make things up all the time. "Oh yeah, it won't hurt that much at the dentist" or "it's just a needle, you won't even feel it". We fib all the time about little things. I don't think it's such a big deal to fib about something magical and wonderful.
D.
One Extreme to the Next
My daughter no longer screams when strangers enter the room. She now screams when strangers leave the room. She immediately moved from one extreme to the other. Anytime, anyone she doesn't know comes, says hello and then says goodbye, it's at goodbye that Baby J. goes into a panic. Is it possible to have that much of an attachment to someone after knowing them all of 20 seconds? And where does that kind of immediate panic and fear come from?
D.
Does such a place exist?
I wish I lived in a country where upon becoming a parent you got five or so years off from work.
Does such a country exist? And if so, how does one become a citizen?
Stop Eating That!!!
Quick question: why is that babies almost always initially refuse to eat anything you put near their mouths but will eat anything they find randomly on the floor?
Is it just me or does that not go against basic survival instincts?
D.
