Parental Thoughts.....

If I had to describe our weekend in one word it would be: Normal. Our Dossier has definitely gone to Russia. (Confirmed with Denise it was sent Wednesday, YEAH!) We saw a movie (Up in 3-D) It was cute, but very sad in parts. Cartoons are not suppose to make you cry. I cried twice. That was my only complaint. But then again I cry at the "abused pet" commercials on t.v.
I did LOADS of laundry, cooked a few times, even took a nap today (which means I will be up for hours tonight) I read the last half of my book "Were Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Bell" by Celia Rivenbark, which was as funny as it sounds. My favorite part is when she talks about the adventures raising her daughter and the high standards of those other "granola" mothers. She talks about when she almost wrecked her car when her daughter, in response to the question "What did you do in school today?" by stating that in show in tell the topic was "What did you eat for breakfast?" Every morning in a mad dash, she "throws" her preschooler a Nutragrain bar into the backseat. She does say that "sometimes she does unwrap it for her. She tries not to panic because "they've been down this road before" however their road is "strewn with cheeseburger wrappers and half empty containers of nugget dipping sauce." Her daughter said "Don't worry Mommy, we tell what we ate for breakfast every morning."
I've heard someone say "I was the best mother in the world before I had kids" I try to remind myself of this when a preschooler screams in church or a toddler is pitching a fit in the middle of the grocery store over a box of Fruit Loops. I try not to judge. I just pray that it's those kids' worst days and this behavior is not an every day occurrence for those poor parents. I'll admit that I pitched a fit at Wal-Mart before when a woman stole my parking place I was waiting for. It's not beneath me either. Every once in a while we must fight the injustice that is cast before us, whether it is over fruity cereal or rude public behavior such as parking space theft. Sometimes when you've had enough....well.....you've had enough.
Today, while at lunch with some friends (with teenage children) and some of the youth kids, the topic of "discipline" came up. One of the youth kids asked if Chad and I were going to spank our child. I wasn't spanked as a child, Chad was. I think we both turned out just fine. For a minute we just looked at each other like this was a trick question. We probably came across like we really haven't put a lot if thought into parenting. My gut instinct said "no" because in my head I am picturing a darling perfect angel that would never do anything that could warrant punishment of any kind. (I know you don't have to tell me this isn't true, I know, I know....) Chad said "I'm not apposed to it" I said "I guess, but I'm not doing it". Then I said "We'll just have to play that one by ear". That seemed to be a good fit for us. We both sighed a breath of relief. I think we should see how it all works out and then judge punishment based on what works for our child. As long as we are a unified front I think that will be key. And it looks like we'll add spanking to "the stuff we don't know what we are going to do about". Besides, I'm still holding out for the perfect angel.

P.S.- I missed the 3,000 visiter by 28 hits! Yeah!!! Thanks for reading my ramblings. It really does mean a lot to me!