Yesterday, my daughter found a rabbit’s foot in our front yard. Today we found the other three in the backyard, along with an abundance of fluffy bunny fur. Lucky for us, neighbourhood scavengers took care of any “mess” associated with Hoppy’s demise. I was a bit sad because this bunny had been living in our backyard for a a few weeks now, keeping me company as I weeded and planted. My daughter’s response?
“Well, I am sure glad I’m not at the bottom of the food chain!”
We all know how important it is to instill good values in our children. As responsible parents we strive to teach things like good manners, empathy and honesty, and we are thrilled when our kids start to grasp these concepts. Sort of.
At dinner the other night our daughter thanked me for making the meal, something I felt was exceedingly polite and showed real understanding of the effort I put into it. I was quite touched by the sentiment, until she sweetly clarified:
“It was really good except for the flavor.”
Oh dear.
My kid keeps “outing” me. Any parent knows it is damn near impossible to have family secrets actually kept secret once you have kids and I knew this broadcast system would eventually kick in after our daughter was born, but jeepers, is nothing sacred anymore?
As our daughter was chatting with a friend over cheese and crackers at the kitchen table, talk turned to chores and helping around the house. Her friend’s mom had a cleaning lady come in occasionally and she wondered if I did, too.
“Do you clean your house?” she asked me. Before I could answer, my daughter did the honours for me:
“Not really.”
Thanks.
At school a few weeks ago, another mom needed to contact me and tracked down my daughter.
“Hey hon, what is your phone number?”
“How should I know?” my daughter shrugged. Great. Now everyone at school knows how delinquent I am in street-proofing our kid. Thanks, honey!
I suppose growing a thicker skin and increasing my comfort level with “sharing” is just something I have to accept. Ahh…the glorious things that motherhood brings!
I have been on a bit of an online shopping binge lately so “Add to Cart!” is a phrase I am happily familiar with. It is so fun and satisfying to click that button! Not to mention the knowledge that I will be getting something new – and who doesn’t love that?
Not my daughter, apparently. As she was quietly playing on one of her online stuffed animal communities the other day, she joyfully shouted out “Add to Cart!”. I immediately turned my attention to the computer screen, concerned that she had somehow figured out how to use my credit card (after all, kids do tend to copy the behaviors of their parents). But no, she wasn’t actually buying anything, not with real world money anyway, just with her fake online world money. Whew.
As I began breathing easier and sat back to watch my daughter gleefully doing her “online shopping” I couldn’t help but share her joy. I suppose I should have been thinking about the dangers of having her learn this online habit or perhaps indignant about the way our society teaches children to become consumers at such a young age. But no, it was joy and pride I felt. Like mother, like daughter!
My daughter and I were chatting today about an exciting upcoming event: her friend’s dad will be ordained as an Anglican Priest next month. Since we are Catholic, knowing a dad who is about to become a priest is very unusual for us.
“That’s not fair! I want to be a priest too, but I am not allowed because I am a girl!” she suddenly shouted out.
I immediately spun around and told her she was absolutely right, it was not fair. I told her that I have written to the Pope and our Archbishop asking them to allow women to be priests, because it is not right that women are not allowed to be priests at our church. I told her that her friend’s church is Anglican and that church has figured it out already: women CAN be priests. Unfortunately, our Catholic Church has still not figured it out.
“So I can be a priest if I want to?”
Absolutely, I told her, and I will help you do it if you decide that is what you want.
“OK, I want to be a priest, a teacher and donut seller!”
You go girl!
