I have two very different children. In other words they may be brother and sister but they are so unlike each other in every aspect.

My daughter is laid back, no rush about anything, mild mannered, common sense sometimes escapes her, creative, independent, tough skinned, supportive of friends, stands up for things she feels strongly about. She is a typical teenager most of the time that tests the waters freqently to see what if anything she can get away with. She can be frustrating, funny, witty, goofy, caring, loving, nice, generous and giving of her time all in the same day. Overall she’s a good kid and I love her no matter what. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get angry with her or that her attitude couldn’t use major adjustments daily, it just means that I love her as a whole package. The good the bad and the ugly.

My son is loud, constantly in motion, demands attention, bossy, whiny, independant to a point, stubborn, defiant, thoughtful, smart, a problem solver, articulate and logical. He frequently gets very angry when he is unable to do something on his own and becomes whiny which usually gets him time-out. However when in time out mostly at school he adapts to his situation. He figures out ways to make the best of a situation that may not be ideal. He will talk to the other children, or find other ways to entertain himself. This usually leads to him getting in more trouble because he is being disruptive to the entire class. As adults being able to adapt to a less than desirable situation would benefit us. But to a child who is learning about boundaries and how far they can go it doesn’t work so well. He isn’t learning any lessons as far as limitations and expectations.

I wonder sometimes as a parent is it all worth it. The frustration, disrespect, anger, temper tantrums, chaos, scattered toys, clothes on the floor and then out of the blue my son says, “Mom, I love you!” He does this multiple times throughout the day with nothing in particular that brought it on. This in itself makes being a parent well worth it.

I love you Cortney and Sterling and I wouldn’t change anything.

Love Mom

This entry was posted on Monday, January 24th, 2005 at 1:42 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.