This year my kids brought me breakfast in bed complete with a can of Diet Coke. They poured the cereal themselves and were so proud of their accomplishment and I love that! Audrey made a sign to let everyone know it was my birthday.
I think when your kids are little there are many opportunities to feel personal embarrassment. An example of this might be when your kid hits another kid on the playground or when they scream extra loud in the grocery store "You're HURTING ME!" and everyone thinks you're some crazy child abuser when in actuality all you're really trying to do is secure them safely to the shopping cart by buckling the seat belt! Or perhaps the embarrassment one might feel from a child simply making a sweet and loving gesture by attaching a sign with your ACTUAL age on it for all the world to see.
Yes, these are moments that might cause our face to redden and our hearts to beat a little bit faster. However, it is these same embarrassing moments, in addition to the countless others, that compound upon one another and cause us to be de-sensitized to personal embarrassment. What kids don't realize is that they are only hurting themselves because by the time they get to high school where image is everything - we parents have TOTALLY forgotten what that ever felt like. We have endured total humiliation so many times that we are completely comfortable with it and we no longer realize quite literally, "what is the big deal?"
So as I watched my lovely daughter attach this sign to our apartment door with a beaming smile and inside my head I'm screaming, "NO,NO, NO!", I calmly smiled at her and thought, "one day, I will pull up to your high school in some beater of a car and honk seven times for you until you finally jump in and I will not even be embarrassed because I no longer know what the feels like."
5 comments:
Tammi, I love you! You are hilarious! You have a way with words. That is seriously so cute that she did it. Hope you had a happy birthday! And I think you are gorgeous! Miss you!
This is great! I'm totally cracking up. Honestly, the first thing I thought when I saw the picture was "Wow, is she really 34??" You seem way younger than that, if it makes you feel any better :).
You are so funny! That is definitely true. I use to stare in awe at the women who had their kids in the store in pajamas and unkempt hair....I went to Target the other night and Macy wanted to wear her pajamas...her bright blue footsies....and then she wanted to run around in circles in front of the store snorting like a pig....Maybe I could use the same idea when she's older :)
Tammi,
Happy birthday!! I think what we are going through is whats called "our chickens coming home to roost". At least my folks seem to think our embarrassing kid stories are particularly funny. Sometimes I think our children are proof that God has a sense of humor;)
Mike
looking forward to hearing your assignment! hope it was a high.
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