We all have an area we excel in more than another. This pertains to every area of life, parenthood is not an exception. Some enjoy getting their hands dirty while others would much rather sit on the sidelines taking pictures than burn our bums on a slide that’s been sitting in the scorching sun all day.
J is fun. He likes to play. He’s good at it when he’s on his game. Kids that he’s never met before gravitate to him, because I guess he just radiates a sense of a good time. When we go to a playground, he’s the one climbing amongst the little ones, like a kid himself. For the most part, however, he sets them free.
I, on the other hand, would rather sit on a bench, away from the brunt of the action. I take pictures as a coping mechanism. I enjoy the breeze. I try not to hover over my kids as they play because I worry too much. I’m trapped in my head, the what if’s make me flustered and jittery. My brain and the possibilities of what could happen never turn off. I’m more focused on the mess and chaos and making sure every foot lands safely. I have to force myself to play instead of fret.
It’s been a long road towards accepting our natural roles. I would like to say we make a good team, J and I. That we balance each other out. That I’ve spared my kids a knock or two by watching so intently, anyway. In the end, though, I simply feel like a party pooper. I’m like the old lady, shaking her cane, screeching at the young’uns to keep it down in there.
C you sound like me and my husband sounds like J. I realize I probably won’t be as carefree as my husband, but I think that is ok. It is all about balance, one worries, while the other one lives and lets live. I hope my daughter gets just the right amount of both.
I wrote a post a while ago about how my husband is the fun person and from the responses I got it is clearly the case in most households too, with Daddy being the one with the childish glee, humor and juvenile antics and so many Moms finding it hard to just act like a kid. I can and do do silly things with my daughter, like dancing up a storm, but with some of the fun things I really have to work at it.
Keep it down in there!! That’s me, in a nutshell. And I don’t even have kids.
Other things I’ve been known to say:
Did you take your vitamins?
That music is TOO LOUD.
Put on more sunscreen.
@Eva @ Eva Evolving, I found myself telling my husband to turn the music down in the car the other day because it was giving me a headache. I then immediately gasped in horror at myself.
@Aging Mommy, I have small moments of playing with my kids, but for the big stuff, parks and playgrounds and that kind of thing, my husband is so much better at it.
@Rudri Patel, I just wish there was more balance within myself. Safety is good, but it’d be nice to be the fun one every now and then, too.
I am the same way. I’m the parent who’s gonna sit down and do 15 puzzles or play a board game for hours. My mountain man is the one who’s going to break out the slip & slide. That’s just who we are and the way it’s gonna be.