A co-worker and I often swap kid stories - his is a rambunctious eight-year-old boy, mine a spunky, newly-mischievous eight-month-old girl. He and his wife are older parents (even older than BD and me!), and I love hearing his take on things. A recent exchange:
CW: "You can't treat the kid like she's the center of the universe."
GM: "Why not?"
CW: "You'll spoil her."
GM: "But she's the center of MY universe. I think it's okay to treat her as such."
CW: "Hmmmm."
And that's the truth - Babydoll is absolutely, 100% the center of my and BD's world. Everything we do revolves around her. I go to work every day, even though I hate it most days, to provide a nice home and lifestyle for her. BD stays home, occasionally going stir-crazy, to care for her. She is with one, or both, of us 99.9%* of the time. And we like it that way. She's our child. We like her. We like spending time with her. She's fun to hang out with (I am fully aware of the poor grammar there. I'm okay with it). Maybe that will change in ten years, or whenever this "tween" business begins
Side note: is "tween" the same thing as "pre-teen?"
Anyway. The following morning, another exchange between Co-Worker and me:
CW: "Hey, you know what?"
GM: "Monkey butt?"
CW: "I told the wife what you said about the kid being the center of your universe, and she said that I'm full of shit because CWK (co-worker's kid) is most definitely the center of our world, too. Thought I'd let you know."
GM: "Right on. So, are you going to make a fresh pot of coffee? You took the last cup."
Seriously, what's the "tween" thing about? Is it all Hannah Montana and Bratz dolls?
* Babydoll was left in the care of my parents one evening when her daddy and I decided to go out on a baby-free date. It was disastrous. We picked her up two hours after dropping her off. We keep saying we'll try again. That was a couple months ago. Maybe next year.
I agree with your co-worker. Don't spoil her too much. Although, you should always say yes as long as it's not life threatening and say no when you mean it. Don't buy her too many toys cuz she'll have more fun with your blankets, pillows and pots and pans anyway. Limit her TV, computer time and make her play outside ALOT! If you spoil her too much she'll bulldoze you when she's a tween. Trust me! Alexander suffers from spoiled brat first kid syndrome and I learned my lesson with the other 2!! Seriously! Spoil her with love, hugs and reading! She'll get the most out of that anyway! :)
ReplyDeleteWe only spoil with love and attention. Material things don't really have a place in our home, and I don't foresee that changing as she grows older.
ReplyDeleteTween is pre-teen. I have one of those now. She was a first kid. I wore her, slept with her, read to her, and was around her 99.9% of my time (as I am with #2) She is now a smart, confident, and independent almost teen (still, how did that happen?!?)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, Joi. Those are exactly the qualities we're hoping for our daughter. And yeah, seriously - how do you have an almost-teenager???
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