Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Kid tolerance and ear tubes


Sometimes I wonder if how our family works is "normal" compared to other people.

One of the things I wonder about is kid tolerance. How much do you let your kids get away with? How much mess do your tolerate? You go to some homes and you wouldn't even know they had kids and I don't think they own any toys.

Then there is families like my dear friend Zshanae who has a permanent mattress going down her stairs for a slide. It keeps her kids happy.

When I was little I hated convention. I wanted the couch pushed up and facing the wall so I could have a boat. I wanted me and my sisters beds to line up head to head so we could do someraults in one continous line. It was our house, why did it have to look normal. I also wanted trampolines for floors.
I guess I fulfilled those needs as an adult by having a slide in my basement, one bedroom made out of two, and walls that aren't all tan.

So tonight, my kids wanted to build a fort. I'm not much a fort maker so I decided to let them push the couches together to make a pirate ship. They promised to help clean it up. We shall see.
But, even though it creates an instant mess in the house I was trying to keep clean all day, you are only a kid once.
And since we don't have Wii, what else are kids supposed to do on these cold winter nights?
Also, today we found out that Tyce is going to need another set of ear tubes. So, in January he is going in to get those and also get his adenoids taken out. I hate surgery, I hate general anthesia.
Poor guy. He has some bad ears. My ears are good. I wonder where he got those from.
We are still blessed and know things could be much, much worse.


8 comments:

  1. I let my kids get away with quite a bit actually, but I have to swear them to secrecy not to tell their dad or he'd have a crazy fit. My kids (like me when I was a kid) like to slide down the stairs in a sleeping bag...its fun! It hurts but its fun. I am all about having fun...Bill is all about being the parent. I guess that makes a great balance right?

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  2. I have a high tolerance for mess and fun. I figure that the toys can always be cleaned up later, and clean kids are highly overrated, but they will only be little for so long. Eventually those doll shoes and phones that you step on will be gone and I will miss the little things.

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  3. You are awesome for letting the kids do that!! I remember making forts and messes when I was a kid and I am sure that I hated cleaning it up. That is my beef--I wouln't mind so much if they could just clean up the mess so that I didn't have to!! You will have to tell me more of the story about Tyce!!

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  4. My kids get away with quite a lot and I have never understood how people with little kids have such clean, neat houses. It just doesn't work for our house. They are only little once and I want to remember the fun times not being upset about a messy house. I try to make cleaning up fun so they at least help with some of it.

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  5. I would be lying if I said I didn't care my house was a mess. I go through phases of cleaning the same things 50 times a day to leaving it. Either way, everything is put away before I go to bed. I hate waking up to a mess. When Kambria gets old enough to want to build forts, I will let her. We did that a lot as kids, and I have fun memories of my dad helping us build forts. Kids have to be kids.

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  6. When I was expecting my first child my Aunt said to me "the chores can wait, you're kids are only little for a VERY short time, so enjoy it with them". I guess I took that to heart because instead of chores first play later, it's usually play now we'll clean up later. It makes for a messy house, but when I try it the other way, it's also messy so we play. By the way, those people with young kids who you think have a clean house, that's only because you call before they come over and they make a mad dash and stash before the company arrived! (Don't look in their closets or under the bed...... :) PS We have a permanent fort under our stairs too! But no slide - jealous!

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  7. "Normal?" With kids? Are you kidding? Messes are normal. I do find that I need to have ONE space in my home that is NOT "kidized" aka a disaster. I need some calm in the storm - but I recognize that kids need some storm too. You are a great mom. Hope your budding pirates appreciate that!

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  8. I wish I had more energy to do fun things with my kids. Good for you for letting the kids build a fort. Jack is great with that kind of thing. I hate having a mess, but I also realize that it will never be perfect!

    Sorry to hear about Tyce. I think Porter will need tubes too. Good Luck

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