Parenting

Yesterday, my three year old neighbor and her brother came over to my house to play computer games. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, whenever my mom makes a long distance call, the internet goes off, so the two kids had to wait. The three year old then complained that she wanted to go home, but her brother wanted to wait for the internet to come back on, so I had to take her home. It wasn't a long walk, she lives right next door. 

When she got home, she turned into a nightmare. It was the quickest mood change I had ever seen in my life--and that's coming from me, who can be quite moody. She was whining in that screeching, annoying, toddler voice that sounds like nails on chalkboard to my poor ears. I asked her what was wrong, but she kept shaking her head and screeching at the top of her lungs. Her mom was sweeping the floor and was trying to get her to quiet down, but instead, she continued to scream. Then, with a look of fury on the little girl's blotchy red face, she began smacking her mother in the back and the arm, continuing to screech. 

That's when I thought: what is the line between being a loving parent and non-disciplining parent. I remember back to the days when I was young, if I had screeched like that, I don't think I would have dared to do it again; if I had smacked my mother like that, I doubt my hands would escape unscathed. I doubt my teeny baby bum would escape unscathed. But the little girl got away with it. I love kids, from their cheery, uncaring spirit, to their silly mishaps. However, there's a breaking point...and screeching and hitting a parent is a breaking point for me. My mom always had a philosophy, "while parenting, one parent has to be the dictator, the other the enabler". That way, you would always have someone that can deal with the kids' bad habits and another that they can always turn to. I didn't need any observations to know that I'm going to be the dictator. With my younger sister, I was always the one who would yell and be bossy. With my very young toddlers, I'm always the one that reprimand them whenever they get too nosy or they begin fighting. I don't mind that role, actually. That's my personality. And in my mind, it's always sweeter to see the mother as the dictator and the father as the enabler. I wonder if that's how I was raised. Probably. Yup, most definitely. 

Corner tip #1: Never go out with a person to the movies on a first outing. It might look sweet, cute, and nice in the movies, but in real life...it is very boring. For one thing, you're limited from talking to each other during the movies. Another is, there's a chance one of you might fall asleep. So for future redo: I think drinks and wander around to find a park with a playground. You can be an adult and a child at the same time ^.~