It's funny how much you grit your teeth watching your kids do normal kid things, or in my case HEARING your kids friends do normal kid things. Last night, my daughter had a sleepover with five of her friends. Now, I want to preface this by saying that her friends are some of the most polite, well behaved sweethearts I know. Yes, they're teenagers. Yes, they get attitudes. Overall, though, they perform well academically, stay out of trouble and have their heads on straight. Well, they have their heads on as straight as a teenager can.
As I was in the other room last night, though, I heard something that made me cringe. I heard the "f word" out of someone's mouth. Now here's the deal: I say this word semi-frequently but I did not use it and don't use it in the presence of my children's friends. That said, I don't feel like swearing in front of them corrupts them. Let's be frank; they hear it all of the time at school or in the real world anyway. I don't necessarily believe that you should teach your kids NOT to use this language. What I DO believe is that there is a lesson that should be taught in appropriate timing of the use of this language. A sleepover, in my opinion, is not an inappropriate time. Therefore, it didn't get corrected. Nonetheless, it made me cringe.
Maybe it's the realization that they're not little girls anymore. Maybe it's the realization that life is rapidly moving along. Maybe it's the realization that the world keeps turning, even if your kids do the normal teenage things. Regardless, it's still a cringe worthy moment. It's the moment that you realize that your child is just like you...and in some ways, it's the moment that you realize they may have to go through the exact same things you did. They may have to struggle. They may have to fall down. The point is that your kid is growing up...and you get to watch the wonderful people they'll become. Just be ready to pick them up when they fall and keep the cringes to a private space.
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