Today's scenario...I am sitting in my dining room with child #2 supervising while he writes out thank you notes from his birthday party. When I announced that this activity must take place, he reminded me that he "said thank you when I opened the presents". Yeah, duh. Call me crazy or old fashioned, but I'm a firm believer in handwritten thank you notes. But now I wish I wasn't. Fuck it, yep, he DID say thank as he opened them. As far as I'm concerned that is enough because this is fucking torture. I want to take his pencil out of his hands and stab myself in the eyes repeatedly. I want to take this stack of fucking Star Wars themed thank you notes and slice them up and down various parts of my body inflicting horrendous paper cuts. And then I would roll around in lemon juice just for good measure. Then I will overenthusiastically lick the adhesive on the envelopes in the hopes that they are poisoned and will take me out of my misery.
Getting my son to do anything other than stage a battle with action figures, legos, and qtips is like getting a Republican and a Democrat to agree that Obama is doing a great job. If I need to engage him in an activity that requires any sort of reading or writing I have to give myself a mental pep talk for hours leading up to the task. I promise myself that I will be patient with him, use gentle reminders and soft, calming tones. That typically lasts for about 12 seconds. Some of my biggest frustrations are (but not limited to)...
Attention span:
He has none. Now this is the same kid who can set up aforementioned battle and spend literally HOURS pretending the Republic is attacking the Clones (or however the hell it goes) A pile of legos can be given undivided attention for a full day. But if it requires reading, writing, or anything involving school he shuts down. Practicing reading flash cards results in him rolling around on the kitchen floor, last time he was down there he was thrilled to find a stray french fry under the oven....THAT captivated his attention for at least 10 minutes. While we have been sitting here in the dining room (we're now at over 90 minutes...with a lunch break and 5 bathroom breaks) he has thrown himself off his chair no fewer than a dozen times, blown 17 raspberries onto his arm, picked his nose with his pencil at least 5 times, crawled under the table a few times, and has tried to engage me in discussions about everything from the recipe I am using for dinner tonight to whether or not dinosaurs could run faster than his dad's motorcycle.
Patience:
I have none. I will fully admit that. And yes, I am a teacher. However, I teach older students who, a large majority of the time, can be left to their own devices. I super suck at working with younger children. I especially super suck at working with my own young children. I find myself grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw when we are doing something that SHOULD be a relatively easy task. Or at least *I* think it should be easy. Not really sure what the hell is wrong with my kids. Idiots.
Basic skills:
I really shouldn't even comment on this because I will likely piss off other parents and educators of young minds everywhere. I do NOT like working with my children in kindergarten and first grade. It is painful. It is frustrating. And yes, at times it makes me feel like I have FAILED my children intellectually...I feel like I should have taught them all of this before entering school, it's not for lack of trying, I found a Star Wars character that corresponds with EVERY GODDAMN LETTER of the alphabet to help my son learn his letters...and even that didn't work, it held his interest for about 12 seconds longer than the 47 ABC books we have so that was kind of a downer for me...thankfully he has learned his letters and now, heaven help me, we're working on reading....working with beginning readers on basic reading skills SUCKS MY BIG WHITE ASS...
"buddy...you JUST read that word on the last page....and the 12 pages before that...and in every fucking book we've EVER.READ"
"just sound it out...one letter at a time...that word RIGHT.THERE...don't look at me, look at the BOOK" (trying really hard not to increase the volume of my voice)
"yep, sound it out...**IN MY HEAD: DUDE ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?????***...um, buddy P-I-L-E does not spell PRESIDENT" Funny thing was, with that one, he was on the right track with sounding it out great, put all of the letters/sounds together and then SOMEHOW it morphed into PRESIDENT. Fuck...well Dan Quayle DID kind of help run the country for a while so maybe he does have a chance?
It's just such a slow, painful process...GOD BLESS elementary school teachers. I should have made it a habit to send in a bottle of SOMETHING for each of my child's teachers every Friday. Seriously. They must have the patience of saints, whereas I should likely have my children taken away from me because I can't even make it through a goddamn Little Critter book without wanting to cause bodily harm.
PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one??? I made it through with my oldest and she's now making straight A's and cries in heap of disappointed hormones if she gets a B. I know things will be different with my son, he just doesn't seem to care. He just can't be bothered but I KNOW he needs the basics to get by in life. His teachers can't do it all unfortunately...or CAN THEY????? Can I give up completely? Just kidding...kind of....
No such thing...
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I am a firm believer in "there is no such thing as a stupid question" If I'm ever asked something that could possibly be considered a stupid question, yes, I may look at you like you have a penis growing out of your forehead but I will comply and answer, even if on the inside I think you're an idiot. We are taught as children that if we want to learn something or are curious about something, we should ASK someone for enlightenment. When did that stop being ok? Can't adults ask questions too?
Case in point...since I'm recently knocked up, I started frequenting a few forums on a well known "baby/mom/pregnancy" oriented website. Recently a mom there posted that she was not cut out for said forums basically because the other moms were fucking idiots. She could not BELIEVE that some of us (actually the vast majority of moms who participate on the forum) are so uneducated as to ask such basic questions that could EASILY be found in other sources in which to educate ourselves. Kind of thinking she has no friends in real life, no one likes her and she has no choice but to resort to books and google because no one talks to her. So she wanted to make herself sound holier than thou and super smart because she opts to defer to the written word of so-called "experts" instead of discussing the ins and outs of pregnancy/childbirth/motherhood with other moms who have DONE IT BEFORE or are experiencing the same thing at the same time.
Don't know about you all but I like to find people who know what I'm talking about. Like EXACTLY what I'm talking about...
"should this shit be coming out of my nipples right now?"
" is my stomach this huge because the baby is growing so rapidly or because I have such bad gas I could clear my entire neighborhood in one fart?"
"so hemorroids basically feel like a cluster of grapes coming out of my ass, right?"
Pretty sure I COULD google those things or MAYBE find them in a book, but I like talking to real women who have been there, done that. I guess the fact that I (and many other moms) like this method of "learning" makes us uneducated shmucks. Apparently we're all drooling idiots for wanting real time answers and responses to our concerns, no matter how repetitive or ridiculous...
"Should a foot be hanging out of my crotch right now?"
"If I push hard enough to get this stubborn poop out will the baby come out too?"
"What the FUCK!?!?! Did I just sneeze out of my vajeej??? What is this HUGE snot looking thing??"
All valid questions...some people may read them and wonder, REALLY? Is she serious? But for those of us who have been through even one pregnancy knows that SO many fucked up things are going on with your body as you house your little parasite that you NEED to be able to ask someone. You NEED to know that you are #1: not dying, #2: harming your parasite, or #3: not crazy. Believe it or not, doctors do NOT know everything and SURPRISE SURPRISE...they've been known to give conflicting information before! GASP! For example, it's typically frowned upon to drink during pregnancy...pretty common knowledge. However, imagine MY shock and oh-so-pleasant surprise when my midwife damn near prescribed a small glass of red wine a night to chill out my super spaz baby, fucking awesome. I was told I should shy away from body shots and tequila mixers but a small glass of Pinot Noir was ok...score. And imagine my pleasant surprise to find out (upon asking a seemingly "uneducated dipshit" question on aforementioned forum) that MANY moms have imbibed in a bit of wine during pregnancy. Didn't find THAT in a book, bitch!
So my point is...there is no such thing as a stupid question ESPECIALLY when you're pregnant. Get your information where ever you can, from whoever is willing to share (want to get moms talking? ask about pregnancy, labor, & delivery!) I'm all about googling too, but sometimes information that one finds on the internet is downright terrifying...so if you have to ASK someone, no matter HOW STUPID you think the question is, ask away!!! Odds are pretty good that there is another mom (or several) who had the same question! So you may be doing many a favor by having the balls to ask "is it normal to piss my pants everytime I sneeze?"
Case in point...since I'm recently knocked up, I started frequenting a few forums on a well known "baby/mom/pregnancy" oriented website. Recently a mom there posted that she was not cut out for said forums basically because the other moms were fucking idiots. She could not BELIEVE that some of us (actually the vast majority of moms who participate on the forum) are so uneducated as to ask such basic questions that could EASILY be found in other sources in which to educate ourselves. Kind of thinking she has no friends in real life, no one likes her and she has no choice but to resort to books and google because no one talks to her. So she wanted to make herself sound holier than thou and super smart because she opts to defer to the written word of so-called "experts" instead of discussing the ins and outs of pregnancy/childbirth/motherhood with other moms who have DONE IT BEFORE or are experiencing the same thing at the same time.
Don't know about you all but I like to find people who know what I'm talking about. Like EXACTLY what I'm talking about...
"should this shit be coming out of my nipples right now?"
" is my stomach this huge because the baby is growing so rapidly or because I have such bad gas I could clear my entire neighborhood in one fart?"
"so hemorroids basically feel like a cluster of grapes coming out of my ass, right?"
Pretty sure I COULD google those things or MAYBE find them in a book, but I like talking to real women who have been there, done that. I guess the fact that I (and many other moms) like this method of "learning" makes us uneducated shmucks. Apparently we're all drooling idiots for wanting real time answers and responses to our concerns, no matter how repetitive or ridiculous...
"Should a foot be hanging out of my crotch right now?"
"If I push hard enough to get this stubborn poop out will the baby come out too?"
"What the FUCK!?!?! Did I just sneeze out of my vajeej??? What is this HUGE snot looking thing??"
All valid questions...some people may read them and wonder, REALLY? Is she serious? But for those of us who have been through even one pregnancy knows that SO many fucked up things are going on with your body as you house your little parasite that you NEED to be able to ask someone. You NEED to know that you are #1: not dying, #2: harming your parasite, or #3: not crazy. Believe it or not, doctors do NOT know everything and SURPRISE SURPRISE...they've been known to give conflicting information before! GASP! For example, it's typically frowned upon to drink during pregnancy...pretty common knowledge. However, imagine MY shock and oh-so-pleasant surprise when my midwife damn near prescribed a small glass of red wine a night to chill out my super spaz baby, fucking awesome. I was told I should shy away from body shots and tequila mixers but a small glass of Pinot Noir was ok...score. And imagine my pleasant surprise to find out (upon asking a seemingly "uneducated dipshit" question on aforementioned forum) that MANY moms have imbibed in a bit of wine during pregnancy. Didn't find THAT in a book, bitch!
So my point is...there is no such thing as a stupid question ESPECIALLY when you're pregnant. Get your information where ever you can, from whoever is willing to share (want to get moms talking? ask about pregnancy, labor, & delivery!) I'm all about googling too, but sometimes information that one finds on the internet is downright terrifying...so if you have to ASK someone, no matter HOW STUPID you think the question is, ask away!!! Odds are pretty good that there is another mom (or several) who had the same question! So you may be doing many a favor by having the balls to ask "is it normal to piss my pants everytime I sneeze?"
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