I'm not very good at parenting- at least not the part where I have to share parenting responsibilities with someone else. That is my current problem- just ask Paul. Do other parents out there have this same problem- disagreeing about things over and over again?
One of the things that we disagree about is disciplining. Tonight when putting the girls to bed, Grace wanted a different blankie and she wanted me to put it on her. I was putting Camille in bed, so Paul told her that she could pick her blankie and lie down or she could have no blankie. She didn't like that idea, and had a tantrum about "mommy put on blankie" until I got done with Camille and put the penguin blankie on her and she settled down. Paul didn't like that I just gave in to her, so he told me as much and took the blankie off of Grace and I left the room.
I guess he's more of a softie than I thought, or maybe he is like me and can't stand to hear the children whine- whatever the reason, he went back in and gave her a blankie and got her all calmed down. Maybe she did it on his terms, I don't really know.
The point is, things like this get in our way more often than I'd like them to. And while Paul would like me to just defer to him once in a while, and I do, once in a while, I wish that we were more in sync, or I wasn't a control freak, or something. Is it being a control freak, or is it just being the parent that is usually taking care of the kids? Because that ties in to me wishing that Paul would take the kids off my hands more and he doesn't or can't because I am always the boss.
Does it get easier with time? Do any of you have good advice? Similar stories? Leave a comment and let me know if you're as lame as me. Even if you're not, I'll still like you. Just don't get between me and controlling my kids.
2 comments:
sarah:
yes it's me. i am terrible for taking so long to answer your email-- but it's only because i wanted to put thought into it and haven't had time to yet (you know how it goes). but i will.
and i just started to answer the question your asking here but then erased and decided to keep my long-winded speech to a private email.
promise to write soon.
Oh yes, I am often in the same boat as you. Notice in my blog that Autumn ate snow even though Dave is horrified by it! I think that being with the kids more often means you pick your battles with them differently. The boys just don't get that maintaining a completely germ-free no-unecessary-give-ins and no-tv environment just isn't sustainable all day every day for moms who also need to clean, cook, and have some personal time! :)
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