I love my kids, I just hate parenting
Before I became a parent, I had a lot of fantasies about how I was going to influence my kids to like the stuff I like, and to teach them the stuff I wanted them to know.
I forgot how quickly other influences crop up. My kid is not even six and I’m already fighting a war on multiple fronts.
I think TV is winning.
If you’ve been following me on social media, you probably know that I’ve been on my own the past few days.
We were at my parents for the holiday weekend, and while I came back to NYC on Tuesday to go to work, Mom and Buried and the kids stuck around. The kids got to hang with Grandma (consequences be damned) and Mom and Buried was able to get some work done without paying for a babysitter. Or camp.
Meanwhile, I was living the high life, bachelor style! FREEDOM!
When I was a kid, we visited Disney World.
At some point we ended up on a breakfast cruise, and there are pictures of me there, cherub-faced and smiling wide, surrounded by Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, Cinderella, and assorted other Disney characters. I don’t remember it, but I’ve seen pictures, and I have no doubt it was one of the happiest days of my life. (We visited Disneyland too, but come on. There’s a reason all the pictures from that trip are from Universal Studios.)
I worshiped Disney as a kid. My five-year-old has no idea what Disney is.
My son doesn’t watch Caillou.
Caillou is the show that provokes the most anger and disdain from most of the parents I know, online and off, but I’ve never seen it! I know of its reputation, and I understand that the fact that Detective Munch doesn’t watch it is probably a good thing (although some friends of mine swear it’s oddly soothing), but I’ve escaped its wrath.
Which isn’t to say my son doesn’t watch other shows that drive me to drink.
Read more about Streaming Me To Drink …
What’s the opposite of handy? Handless? That’s what I am.
I can barely hammer a nail. But having kids forces you to do things you wouldn’t normally do, like put together a complicated, 36-piece wooden playhouse you got from Lowe’s. Which is what I spent Sunday afternoon doing.
BECAUSE I LIKE SPENDING TIME WITH THEM!