Lindsay's Tree

Everyday is like groundhog day. We wake up, get dressed, get the kid ready for school, remind the kid to get lunch, get socks, put a belt on, get in the car ... the list goes on. In the evening, the routine is not much different: pickup the kid, have the kid do her homework, take a shower, get dressed, get ready for bed, etcetera.

Before we get through the door, “what time is dinner?” she asks. My response is always the same: “when we call you”. “But I am hungry now”, she says. I reply, “I understand, but dinner does not magically appear when you snap your fingers”. “So when is dinner?”, she asks. “Good grief”, I think to myself, "did I speak a foreign language?"

This is my life every day. One would think after many, many years of the same routine, the kid would finally get it. Not going to happen. The kid is not ever going to get it. Why? Because my mother made it so. She wished for this to happen, as payback. After all, doesn’t every parent put the same hex on their children? It’s like a rite of passage. I just wish we could get to the happy ending where my child has one of her own and can finally understand the torture she put her dad and me through all these years.

Don’t get me wrong, there are moments of pure bliss. And I treasure those moments far more now that my child is older than I ever did when she was a wee-bit. Children are so much fun when they are just starting out in the world. They lean on you for everything. But once they hit those teen years, forget it: you're toast! You no longer are their favorite person. You no longer have any clue what is hip, cool, trendy, etcetera. And you certainly don’t understand them!

My kid is pretty great though. When she is sleeping. She barely makes a sound, except when she falls off the bed in the middle of the night. Why do all children sleep so weirdly? I go in to check on her, she is upside down in the bed, blankets are on the floor, pillow is wedged between the nightstand and the wall, and the sheet is nowhere to be found. If I were her, I’d wake up cranky and ready to fight with the world too if I slept as badly as her.

But really, my kid does some amazing things that I am so very proud of.  Like when she ... And then there was that time that ... hmm ... I wish I could think of some to share with you, but my mind has gone totally blank! Perhaps I’ll remember a few and post them tomorrow.

Stay tuned ...
 
~Lindsay