Sunday, February 14, 2016

Kids, Parents, and Grandparents. It Could Get Tricky



I have no idea why part of this is pink. I have tried everything to change it and Adam isn't home to help me. Let's just say that it's a Valentine's Day miracle. Happy Valentine's Day!



I think it's pretty clear that I did what my parents told me to. It is also clear that there were many times when Jordan did not do what we asked of her, at least not without a fight. Did this bother me? Of course it did. At times I felt like an inadequate parent. 

That's why it was interesting when I saw Jordan give Grandma Weeze and Grandpa Tony a hard time. It kind of shocked me. My dad asked Jordan to help him clean up the toys, and Jordan informed him that she didn't want to. Oh boy. He then gave her a choice, either help clean up, or go up to your room (This began to have a very familiar ring to it). She refused to do either.

Here we go.

He then motioned towards her forcefully, scaring her up the stairs while she was running, screaming and crying. I certainly didn't mind that he yelled at her. Let's face it, she told him "No.".  We all endured a period of intense screaming, but then she did come downstairs.  She told him that she was sorry, and then she was all lovey-dovey with him. Phew.

I thought to myself that there is no telling how many times this exact same scenario could repeat itself while they were visiting, but this time it did appear to work. This was a good thing, because the unconditional love provided by grandparents is a special, irreplaceable kind of love. All the parenting crap, in theory, shouldn't really be a part of it.

During this same visit, my mom told me that she had to wrestle Jordan into her clothes two times. She said she actually had to pin her down and threaten to smack her butt, in order to get her dressed. Welcome to my world. I know this was not easy for my mom to deal with. A child not listening to her was one thing. But her first, beautiful granddaughter not listening to her, I would assume that took her to a whole other level of mixed up feelings. And Jordan was a big three year old who was still in diapers. This made getting her dressed that much more difficult and frustrating.

Seeing Jordan behave in the same manner that she had done with us, but with my parents, well...it was strange. I have to admit that I was a bit amused by it. Maybe, just maybe, she actually was a tough kid to handle, and we weren't failing her in the discipline department.

There were other times, years later when again, Jordan challenged my parents. These times were much more intense because, well, I guess Jordan was much more intense. At this time though, when our kids were young, I was just thankful that they got to spend this irreplaceable time with their grandparents.

Thank you,

Us Too

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