[blparent] FW: Article I thought you would like to read

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

Thanks.  Glad I'm not the only one.  *Smile.*

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, 
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of 
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of 
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist

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From: "Veronica Smith" <madison_tewe at spinn.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 10:51 AM
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] FW: Article I thought you would like to read

> I don't make my kids eat things they don't like - and other lapses of a
> "good enough" mom
>
> By Kyran Pittman
>
>
>
> I've always loved that quote from the Earl of Rochester: "Before I got
> married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six
> children, and no theories." I didn't have any theories about parenting
> before I actually became a parent myself; I had rigid, nonnegotiable
> certainties. Mercifully, I'm a quick study - it took only three children 
> to
> kick me off my high horse regarding the kind of mother I set out to be. 
> That
> is, a perfect one. A few of the innumerable ways in which I've (happily)
> fallen short:
>
>
> * Sometimes I nod and make noises like I am listening to my kids when
> I am not. Especially before 9 A.M.
> * I gave up on giving daily baths - or getting them - after the second
> baby was born.
> * I don't have a one-bite rule; a peanut butter sandwich is always on
> the menu; and I could never send a child to bed hungry.
> * I like to be near my kids when they're playing or doing schoolwork,
> but I don't really want to join in (unless they need me).
> * There are days when I'm the one asking if it's time to watch
> television yet.
> * I forgot to bring my picky-eating fourth grader his lunch today
> (again), and he had to get a cafeteria tray. He'll at least eat the 
> cookie.
> As long as it doesn't have nuts, raisins, crunchy bits, or unfamiliar
> specks.
> * I'm not a "baby" person. I couldn't wait for them to be old enough
> to have conversations and play board games with me.
> * On more than one occasion, I've forgotten to pick up a child on
> time. My youngest still brings up "that day you forgot about me."
> * I readily admit: Playgroup was really for the mommies.
> * I am neither organized enough nor solvent enough to pay a regular
> allowance, but sometimes I resort to bribery. I am fully prepared to
> negotiate with the terrorists.
> * At one time or another, I've fallen back on tactics I swore I would
> never use on my children, including guilt, yelling, and threats to call 
> the
> North Pole.
> * In 12 years of parenting, I've never spanked, but I do remind them
> it's strictly a "one day at a time" abstinence program.
> * Our tooth fairy is notoriously unreliable.
> * Sometimes I just vacuum up the LEGOs.
>
> Glad that's off my chest. May I have my breakfast in bed now?
>
>
>
> Kyran Pittman lives in Little Rock, AR, and she blogs at
> plantingdandelions.com/blog <http://www.plantingdandelions.com/blog> . She
> is also the author of, Planting Dandelions: Field Notes from a
> Semi-Domesticated Life.
>
>
>
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