Children of a certain age have so much energy it is impossible to contain. These last few days with them home from school and bored out of their minds has been a gift. The type of gift you want to immediately return and never see again, but a gift none-the-less.
There are a lot of enjoyable moments with the kids. The boys and I spent some time together watching Paw Patrol yesterday, and after that I made them angry when they left the room and I switched the TV to something else. How am I to know they are still watching the TV from a completely different room?
The one thing I am learning is why I don’t have much memories of sports until around ten years old. It is kind of obvious with how little these kids can sit still or stay focused on a single activity. Sports requires patience and modern sports requires extra patience with how many commercial breaks they take.
I wouldn’t call this weekend a disaster, but it has been an experience. It makes me dread the summer. I don’t know how much growing up the boys will do by then, but I am hoping for a lot. We are watching them grow before our eyes and they are learning to take advantage of our weaknesses before ours.
I have often compared children to the raptors in Jurassic Park. They like to test their boundaries, push against them, and find where the weaknesses are. Then exploit them to get their way. We all have blind spots and no one will find them faster than your own children.
Parenting is no easy task and parenting three children that are 16 months apart in age is really not easy. It takes a lot to get them moving in the right direction and doing what is necessary. We still have an uncomfortable amount of difficulty simply getting dressed in the morning and getting socks and shoes on when it is time to go. That doesn’t even get into picking up after themselves and keeping their rooms and play areas clean.
It is like living with three human hurricanes at times. It is tough to manage and tougher to deal with, but we love them, and hopefully some of the lessons start to stick.
David Huzzard Writes 