Little Mister’s phrase du jour is: “That’s not fair.”
If I were to recite all of the reasons I am not being fair, or that he is being treated unfairly (in our home, by his loving parents), it would take this post into January. However, I feel I should highlight a few of the reasons for the unfair treatment so I’m properly giving you the full picture.
I am not being fair when I:
- Ask him to brush his teeth
- Give him 15 extra minutes on his tablet instead of 30
- Tell him he has to go to school
- Make him take a shower
- Say no to dessert at night
- Don’t let him get something from every store we go into
- Ask him to fold his laundry
- Give him two Oreos as a snack (and not four)
- Only allow 1 show before bed
As you can see, it’s pretty rough over here in our house. I honestly don’t know how he’s lasted this long living with us, we are so completely, horribly unfair.
Sometimes I play a fun game where I compare Little Mister’s life to what life was like when I was growing up. How I had watch whatever show was on TV at the time (no Netflix or Disney+!), how my after school activities were not a screen they were in the yard and how we didn’t have enough money to buy Oreos (that’s not necessarily true, but I don’t remember having them as daily snacks).
What I would like to point out, is that kids don’t realize how fair and wonderful they have it. And I don’t mean that they have things that we didn’t have growing up, I mean the natural things that come along with being a kid, and not appreciating how good you actually have it until you’re old and tired.
Here’s my curated list of things that are wasted on the young:
Naps. I’m not a natural napper. I have to be dead tired to actually lie down to sleep in the middle of the day and not feel guilty that I should be doing something else. Kids, however, can nap whenever they want to. In fact, after they grow out of taking naps, parents are still urging them to take a nap. On days I know that Little Mister is exhausted from a late night and early morning, I will suggest that he lie down and put the TV on and fall asleep. This request is vehemently rejected immediately. If I had no responsibilities, and someone told me to lie on the couch and go to sleep, I would be horizontal before they finished their sentence.
Early bedtime. There are some nights that the three of us all go to bed at the same time. Sometimes that is at 11pm on a Saturday, and other times, it’s at 8:30pm on a Tuesday (no shame). Why is it that kids never want to go to sleep? I WISH someone would say to me, “It’s 8pm, why don’t you get your pajamas on and get in bed and read for a bit until you go to sleep.” That right there is a DREAM scenario. We spend a quarter of our lives fighting bedtime and half of our lives wishing we could go to bed (the remaining quarter is when we are old and while we can go to bed any time we like, we apparently no longer sleep).
Having all of your meals cooked for you. I love to cook; when I can spend a weekend day creating a delicious meal or making a pot of soup the week, I’m a happy girl. But talk to me on a random Tuesday and I’m likely grumpy about making dinner. It’s not only the cooking, it’s coming up with the meals each night. If you told me that someone was going to come to my house and cook me all of the foods I liked every single night, it would be amazing. (AND, I wouldn’t complain about it when it was put in front of me)
Metabolism. Remember existing purely on Doritos, donuts and ice cream and staying stick thin? Yeah, me neither.
Getting to see your friends every single day. I’m lucky if I get to see just ONE of my friends for 5 minutes during the week. These kids go off on their merry way to school, where they get to hang out with all of their closest buds all day long, having lunch together, run around at recess together and even sometimes ride the bus home together. And yet, they complain about going to school. I have some very dear friends I haven’t seen in a year. What I wouldn’t give to be able to see them every day!
Having nothing to do. I think the last time I didn’t have anything to do, I was 23. That feeling where there is nothing waiting for you, hanging over your head or that you’re responsible for. That is what being a kid feels like 24/7. Even if there’s a time I start to feel like I don’t have anything to do, I remember the laundry. Or the playroom that needs organizing. Or the garden that needs weeding. Kids, however, live every day with “nothing to do” and are often claiming “I’m bored!” for hours on end.
So for all the kids out there that feel like life is so unfair, just WAIT. Can you believe that they make us go to work every single day, all day long? Even when we don’t want to? The NERVE.
Life of kk 