The week in the Beehive is proving to be somewhat obsessed. Friday, as you know, is release night and if you need to ask "what release night?" you have either:
Been living on a space station for the last year
Wear a paperbag perpetually on your head
Are a member of the outer lying islands of the Wingawonga tribe in the Straits of Liygong.
Or something of that effect!
I have promised to take Master Beehive the elder and a schoolmate to the release party at our local bookshop, this has all come about from our school auction earlier this year, where our offering was an HP night for "one lucky winner" courtesy of the Beehive. So we are preparing Unicorn stew and Dementor dogs and Looneylovegood slush as we speak and I have found an outlet and soul mate for my crazed theories on "what is going to happen"!
Today we have been shopping for wands, as is normal in everyday suburbia in America! Unfortunately I have been let down by an online shop whom I would LOVE to out right now, but am not going to be that vindictive. They have, I can only guess, been overwhelmed by demand and now can't cope, but as they don't answer e-mails or the phone, all this is speculation. So last minute wand shopping it was.
En route to the "wand emporium" we have deposited Master Beehive the elder at his magic class, followed by maths. Each day, religiously he has donned his magician's cape, packed his snack up and tricks for an hour of tutoring in the art of disappearing rabbits and changing dollar bills into plain paper -shame no one has taught him that the other way around!!
Today I found myself having to reprimand myself.
You probably know how it is as a parent that, much as we like to claim we don't, most of us at one time or another have an unbridled judgement of another's parenting skills. It starts in early parenting as competitiveness, you know the things - my baby walked before yours so is therefore going to be an olympic runner, my baby talked before yours and the Nobel Prize 2053 already has his/her name on it!!!!!! only to manifest through later, more experienced parenting as judgement!!!!!
I, in fact, only had this conversation with a friend yesterday. Her son has taken to hitting and beating up (her words, not mine!) other kids if they have a toy he wants (he's just one mind!!) and she was recounting the times she would sit at friend's houses with her daughter watching other friend's children do the same as her son, whilst she would sit surrounded by the light of her judgemental halo!!!
I like to think I am not overly judgemental in general, we are all different, with different approaches etc.........life is, but I am human and know, even if I don't always voice them as I am doing now, (and they may not necessarily be parenting related) have that feeling of "well, if you had only done it this way........or I wouldn't have done that" a kind of "smugmum" moment! yak! Correct or otherwise.
It always tends to be strangers who set my inner demon off too, rather than people I know. I feel I can empathise with my friends because I know them and their children and more often than not AM them in that very same situation.........
Stay with me if you will, this morning I am following in a mom with three kids in tow, two of whom are about to do battle. I have, not two minutes ago heard this same poor mum speak to one of the children about not telling tales on the others..........Calmly she asks them to stop fighting........they don't.........she repeats...........they ignore...........now here comes the bit that sparked my demon.....
"if you don't stop, I will tell your teacher".........ad infinitum all the way up the corridor "I'll tell him"..........see where I am going?
So little gremlin smugmum with (for today and this moment in time!!) beautifully cooperating children, is silently in my head screaming - "monkey see, monkey do, you are telling on them......aggghh"
Feeling selfrightiously that this is my prize for the tantrum on Monday morning in the supermarket!
Back in the car having successfully squashed the gremlin I am reminded of earlier this morning shouting at Mr Beehive the elder to stop shouting..............oops!!!
Lesson to self - MUST TRY HARDER lol - dontcha just love parenting!!!!!!
So, back to my week of normality, I am driving home with Little Miss Beehive after dropping Master Beehive, the younger, at his art class for an hour, I notice that the signs are up for our local agricultural show. Momentarily I am struck by a genuine sense of dismay that we will in fact be away for the show this year.......Oh me, Oh my, what is a girl to do? No jam or photos in the show this year - the demon is rising again.........that competitive streak......
Village life has just risen up and bitten me hard on the bum!
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