Saturday, December 27, 2008

I love my parents

but MAN do they drive me crazy!

To be fair to my parents who are in their late 60s, my dad is legally blind (it just came on over night about 2 years ago) and my mom will probably need a hip replacement in the next couple of years.

The little monkey had a major melt down, at Legoland, at 5pm tonight. She wanted a stuffed animal (which my mom bought her), then candy (which she didn't get) and then she wanted a bagel as we were walking to the car (the big monkey wanted one as we were buying everyone hot chocolate but the little monkey hadn't wanted one). So, I told her that she could share.

Melt Down Commenced!!!

"Candy", "bagel", "don't want to go home!", "I don't want to share a bagel, I want my own bagel!"

My mother always, believes the best in me, right?? Her helpful commentary:
  1. I knew she was too young to go to theme parks two days in a row!
  2. She's so tired, we should have left earlier!
  3. I can't believe you didn't want to buy her a bagel!
  4. I have never seen her cry so hard, ever!

Now I ask you, was that at all helpful? How could she believe that I wouldn't want to buy her a bagel? The little monkey hadn't asked for one, and at the point when she started asking for her own bagel, and we were close to the car, I KNEW that she wouldn't be happy with anything. And yes, she was tired, but she had done REALLY WELL up until that point.

When I pointed these things out to my mother, she said "I didn't thing that sounded like you so I was surprised you would do that." Yeah, it's better to be shocked at my being a horrible mother than to believe I had a method to the madness!

On the other hand, my dad was awesome to have around. Both at Legoland, and at SeaWorld, I was able to use my dads blindness to sit in reserved sections and to not have to wait in line to see a show twice ;) Yes, I'm a horrible person in circumventing the system, but hey, we have to use the bad thing for some good, right?

11 comments:

Kim said...

Aahhh, holidays and amusement parks - they bring out the best in people, kids and adults! ha!

The Mom Jen said...

Little one sounds so over tired, yeah i know those meltdowns very clearly!!

Kirsten said...

That sounds all too familiar. My mom says things like, "I don't remember you kids ever having tantrums like that." Really? Because you were such an awesome mother and I suck I guess.

If you Dad has to be blind, take advantage of the perks. Don't feel guilty about that!!

April said...

My mom has learned to bite her tongue. Thankfully, my dad will defend me at all times in front of my kids - even when I know he doesn't agree with me.

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

I get the "you and your sister never..." also. Yes, my sister was almost 8 years older than me so I was more like an only child. My 2 monkeys rile each other up so when one starts the other follows. And by the way, I don't remember last week, how do you remember almost 30 years ago!

bernthis said...

I had my sister tell me yesterday that I really wasn't meant to be a mother and she was shocked when I told her how offended I was. Ahhh, family, can't live with them, can't live with them....

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

Jessica - wow! Your sister and my sister should get together!

Unknown said...

Yep - parents - love 'em. Yep - they drive me crazy. And I try to NOT let them drive me crazy but. they. do.

You're a hero for enduring all that big crazy public place kind of holiday activity - forget the kids melting down - what about YOU??

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

Lee - It was so cold, and so close to Christmas, that the crowds weren't bad! That's I chose to go when we did :)

Note to all: 50's in southern California is FREEZING!

kel said...

Oh my parents are so guilty of that as well. My dad used to tell me that he just couldn't understand why i would put my child in time out.. it's just so cruel! oy!

Keri said...

Your mom totally reminds me of my nana. She has a way of making me feel very inadequate when it comes to my boys. One time, she even asked me "Are you going to feed him before you go?" I had to bite my tongue. I felt like yelling, "No lady, I'm gonna let him starve!" Geesh, good thing she's around or else I don't know how my kids would have made it this far.