Come On, Get Happy
There are several exciting events happening in our area this weekend. Less than an hour to the north, 16 tall ships sailed into the harbor in Green Bay for a three-day festival. And a half-hour's drive south, Oshkosh is hosting the annual Experimental Aircraft Association Convention, an annual hullabaloo attended by some 750,000 people.
Working for a lifestyle publication, I get to learn of all these fabulous occurences at least two months in advance, fantasize about how much the kids, my beloved, and I will enjoy them...and then occasionally berate myself because I'm too tired as a result of working at said publication to actually get out and enjoy the Fox Cities lifestyle, thus robbing my children of their rightful enrichment.
Today has been such a day. The sun is shining, and I spent nearly the entire afternoon asleep. It was a Family Nap, which redeemed it somewhat, but it still felt a lot like wasted time.
Once I'd fully regained my senses, had a fortifying handful of Life cereal and a peach ("They sure are full of juice, Mommy," my daughter said), and read a couple of magazine articles until I didn't feel crabby anymore, I went upstairs to ask my silently playing son if he wanted to go for a bike ride.
"Where?" he asked. "Dairy Queen?"
"Well, I didn't think that," I said. "Just a ride."
"I don't really want to go for a ride. I just want to play," he told me. "I haven't had a lot of time to play."
He was right, at least as far as his own precious toys were concerned.
"You really like to play by yourself," I said, assuming he'd been happily doing so for the two hours his sister and I had been conked out. "What do you like about playing by yourself?"
"It's really quiet," he said. "And you can do whatever you want, and no one wrecks what you're building. It's just nice and quiet," he trailed off.
"Do you ever get lonely when you play by yourself?" I asked.
"No, I get happy when I play by myself," he said.
Proof positive that ignoring your kids is, as I've often believed, sometimes the best parenting tactic available. And that kids don't need tall ship festivals or aircraft conventions to grow up balanced and wise.
Working for a lifestyle publication, I get to learn of all these fabulous occurences at least two months in advance, fantasize about how much the kids, my beloved, and I will enjoy them...and then occasionally berate myself because I'm too tired as a result of working at said publication to actually get out and enjoy the Fox Cities lifestyle, thus robbing my children of their rightful enrichment.
Today has been such a day. The sun is shining, and I spent nearly the entire afternoon asleep. It was a Family Nap, which redeemed it somewhat, but it still felt a lot like wasted time.
Once I'd fully regained my senses, had a fortifying handful of Life cereal and a peach ("They sure are full of juice, Mommy," my daughter said), and read a couple of magazine articles until I didn't feel crabby anymore, I went upstairs to ask my silently playing son if he wanted to go for a bike ride.
"Where?" he asked. "Dairy Queen?"
"Well, I didn't think that," I said. "Just a ride."
"I don't really want to go for a ride. I just want to play," he told me. "I haven't had a lot of time to play."
He was right, at least as far as his own precious toys were concerned.
"You really like to play by yourself," I said, assuming he'd been happily doing so for the two hours his sister and I had been conked out. "What do you like about playing by yourself?"
"It's really quiet," he said. "And you can do whatever you want, and no one wrecks what you're building. It's just nice and quiet," he trailed off.
"Do you ever get lonely when you play by yourself?" I asked.
"No, I get happy when I play by myself," he said.
Proof positive that ignoring your kids is, as I've often believed, sometimes the best parenting tactic available. And that kids don't need tall ship festivals or aircraft conventions to grow up balanced and wise.
posted by Lisa Strandberg at 3:48 PM
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