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Here you will find updates, snippets, and more! My day's are crazy, and my nights are wild. From family to writing, it all gets laid out here!
So, as we all know, parenting is a learn as you go sport. Kids don't come with an instruction manual. Heak, they don't even come with a basic handbook or pamphlet, and with each kid, everything is different. Sure, they all learn to walk and go potty in the toilet, but the way they do it and time frame they do it in isn't going to be the same as the prior offspring.
As if that isn't complicated enough, each age requires a new strategy and technique. As parents, its all trial and error baby. Thats right... we pull that stuff out of our butts and hope it works. Sometimes we get lucky, and others we move on to the next plan of action. The kids may think we have it all figured out, but in reality, that's a joke. People warn you about the difficulties of a new born baby or a two year old that will stick anything in its nose, but what about the other years? Teens and puberty? That in itself is a full book series on 'What to do if..." Given that my kids are five years apart with my oldest being 21 and my youngest 10, I get the full spectrum of joyful chaotic bliss. I have the "trying to find himself" oldest son, the "lost and hormonally insane" fifteen (almost 16) year old daughter, and the "the bottom of the trash bag fell out and instead of stopping I drug it all the way across the parking lot to the dumpster leaving a Hansel and Gretel trail for Oscar the Grouch the entire way" ten year old boy. I pray a lot. Anyway, I got a call from my oldest today, giving me yet another one of those parenting moments I have no freaking clue how to handle. He is a very passionate, very kind hearted, very stubborn young man, but the thing that is both a blessing and a curse is how he will stand for what he believes in. He's always been strong opinionated, and, even as a child, had intelligent points and arguments. He does his homework. He knows the most random things, but knows them accurately. From history to laws and politics, he always has enough information to not only make his own decisions, but also have proof to defend them. Anyway, back to my story. He was at work today and walked outside to find a police officer running off a homeless man that had stopped to rest on a bench. With the temperature dipping below freezing and rain pouring down, the homeless man wouldn't stand a chance. So, my son being who he is, confronted the cop. He rattled off a bunch of laws and regulations and threatened to protect the homeless man, insisting that the guy would die if he was sent out in the rain. I wasn't there to quote the conversation exactly, and I know my son well enough that he would say and do just about anything as long as he truly believed he was fighting for good. Now, he is twenty one. So, the things he says and does isn't always the right way, but he had a good point. It ended with the homeless man volunteering to leave. My son made sure he had a place to go, and reluctantly agreed. Long story short, he was willing to go to jail to protect this stranger sitting on a park bench. That's the point I needed to find a way to make, and correct. But how? Should he have argued with a police officer? Probably not. My son was raised not only in the South, but also as a military kid, so I know he kept his manners while he argued his point, so it wasn't a disrespect thing. He had a right to voice his opinion and do what he thought right in the moment. Could he have handled it differently? Absolutely. But the way he did it and the laws he quoted to the police officer obviously held truth and left the cop with nothing to say other than a warning for interfering with police business. I explained how I would have handled it, and tried to make him see that landing yourself in jail to prove a point does nothing. It's finding a way to make a difference that is the key to helping. That being said, am I proud of him? You're dang right I am. But what's the correct parental thing to say? Once again, we wing it and hope for the best. I hope he listens to my advice and adds some experience to his knowledge and passion, or grows it as he gets older. But where's the manual to help us as parents get them there? We do our best with each situation we are handed and hope for the best. The rest? We leave to God. He did create the little monsters after all, so who better to know how to take care of them? Note to self... write a parenting handbook.
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AuthorShae Shannon resides in the beautiful state of Colorado with the man of her dreams and her two youngest children. Archives
April 2018
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