We are in a hotel near SeaTac. Last night I slept on a couch and Mr. Sophanne slept on a twin bed mattress. We made an executive decision to spend two rather than one night in a hotel.
Ten days of family seemed to do it for everyone. Three of the five may come to swim at the hotel tomorrow. I may have understated the meltdowns. Or else maybe they are looking bigger in hindsight. Full-blown screaming temper tantrums may be a more accurate description. And now we are done for the year and maybe they'll grow out of them next year. Democratic versus dictatorial parenting. Democracy leads to temper tantrums when the rational breaks down. Someone's probably written a graduate thesis on this but having lived it, I think I'll pass. Sometimes "because I said so" should just take precedence.
As the non-parent in the mix, I still have a little eye twitch that I'm sure I'll recover from by October or so.
There were plenty of good and smiling times and like many other adventures I've had, I'm sure eventually I'll remember this one fondly. Right now, I'm going to knit and try not to think about finding the rental car place, finding our way back to the hotel and getting on an airplane for hours and hours. Maybe it would be best to watch some video of the dog.
4 comments:
Liza Jane seems to be holding up a tad better than her mum. Don't minimize your feelings about the situation. Don't you think that small children could use a bit of treatment like a dog. Exercise, discipline, affection?
I always used "Because I am the Mother, and I said so". Seemed to work most of the time!
There are times that "because I said so" work really well. I tried the democratic parenting, it's not very effective. It leaves too much room for negotiation. Maybe it will be more effective in the teenage years? Dictatorship works pretty well, however, I still get the "why" answer when I tell them to do something. But, oh, let their dad tell them to do something and they can't get to it fast enough!!
As a non-parent (and non-biological grandparent), you deserve extraordinary kudos for making it through with only an eye twitch. When I was fourteen, my oldest sister left her three kids with my older brother and me for a long weekend while she and my parents went to Las Vegas. Ten minutes after they left, my brother said, "See ya!" and took off. I was on my own for three days with kids who were then three, five, and nine. By the time my parents and sister got back, I had to be talked off a ledge and for years after, swore I would never, ever have kids.
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