Hi all,
It's been a while. What can I say, I've been busy getting terrible grades on my calculus homework (yes, I already did calculus, and you thought you were done hearing me whine about it. But no, it turns out there are multiple calculuses (calculusii?). I'll try to save the whining for later).
Anyway. Spoiling kids. You only think it's possible.
See, spoiling kids is what happens when you give them whatever they want, whenever they want it. Then they never learn valuable life lessons like sharing, self-restraint, appreciation for the non-material things in life, and the fact that the world is a cold, cruel place that doesn't give a crap about them or their desires.
That's the theory, anyway.
Maybe it's just me, but from what I've seen, it's only possible to fill roughly 20% of an average child's requests either way. Sure, you could give them pizza for lunch, and let them watch TV all afternoon, but what are you going to do with the following:
"Mommy, how come only you get to have a baby in your tummy? I want one too!"
"I want a brother. An older brother."
"How come I was born in Jerusalem, and [child] wasn't? It's not fair!"
("What's wrong with being born in Jerusalem?"
"Because I wanted to be with the family!"
"You were with the family, honey."
"Not like that! You don't understand!!!")
"I want blue eyes."
"I want my hair to never have tangles."
"I want to be the Mommy now. It's my turn to be the Mommy, and you can be the baby."
"Fix the balloon for me." (said while handing me a mangled scrap of rubber.)
"I want a car."
"When are you getting married again?.... What do you mean, you're not getting married again???"
etc.
(for the record, that last one was a request from D that Viggy and I get married, because she wants to be at our wedding. When I explained that we had married before she was born, she was very hurt, and told me that when she's a Mommy, she'll be sure to wait and get married after the kids are born, so they get to come too.)
(Oh, and watching TV and eating pizza? Only safe "spoiling" activities if you have an only child. Otherwise, it turns into yet another debate over what to watch (Adi: Pink Panther, N: Pink Panther is boring. The pink one only does nonsense all the time, and the one with no neck is just like 'hurrrr.' N: Let's watch Arthur. D: No, Dora! S: DORADORADORADORA Adi: Dora is for babies. S: DORADORADORADORADORA. etc.))
So go ahead and buy your kids what they want, or don't. Either way, you can rest secure in the knowledge that most of their hopes will be disappointed.
******
In other news, I did a decent job sticking to my schedule today. I think I actually started to catch up on all the reading I have to do (the secret is to stop reading the proofs, and just trust the book to tell the truth about which theorems are real).
On the other hand, the "workout" bloc turned into the "read random crap online and eat biscuits" bloc. But you know what? That's OK. I'm confident in my body. I like the way I look just as I am. I don't need to torture myself to fit some crazy media ideal of "not a fat pasty blob that hasn't moved in two months."
Fried biscuits. I was eating fried biscuits.
(regarding "pasty" - you know you're in trouble when people from new england are telling you, in mid-January, that you've been looking pale.)
******
Doing terribly on math assignments is probably going to keep me busy for a while longer (if I keep working through my degree at this pace, for several years longer... ). But I'll try to update a bit more frequently, with random quotes and my latest thoughts on books, if nothing else.
It's been a while. What can I say, I've been busy getting terrible grades on my calculus homework (yes, I already did calculus, and you thought you were done hearing me whine about it. But no, it turns out there are multiple calculuses (calculusii?). I'll try to save the whining for later).
Anyway. Spoiling kids. You only think it's possible.
See, spoiling kids is what happens when you give them whatever they want, whenever they want it. Then they never learn valuable life lessons like sharing, self-restraint, appreciation for the non-material things in life, and the fact that the world is a cold, cruel place that doesn't give a crap about them or their desires.
That's the theory, anyway.
Maybe it's just me, but from what I've seen, it's only possible to fill roughly 20% of an average child's requests either way. Sure, you could give them pizza for lunch, and let them watch TV all afternoon, but what are you going to do with the following:
"Mommy, how come only you get to have a baby in your tummy? I want one too!"
"I want a brother. An older brother."
"How come I was born in Jerusalem, and [child] wasn't? It's not fair!"
("What's wrong with being born in Jerusalem?"
"Because I wanted to be with the family!"
"You were with the family, honey."
"Not like that! You don't understand!!!")
"I want blue eyes."
"I want my hair to never have tangles."
"I want to be the Mommy now. It's my turn to be the Mommy, and you can be the baby."
"Fix the balloon for me." (said while handing me a mangled scrap of rubber.)
"I want a car."
"When are you getting married again?.... What do you mean, you're not getting married again???"
etc.
(for the record, that last one was a request from D that Viggy and I get married, because she wants to be at our wedding. When I explained that we had married before she was born, she was very hurt, and told me that when she's a Mommy, she'll be sure to wait and get married after the kids are born, so they get to come too.)
(Oh, and watching TV and eating pizza? Only safe "spoiling" activities if you have an only child. Otherwise, it turns into yet another debate over what to watch (Adi: Pink Panther, N: Pink Panther is boring. The pink one only does nonsense all the time, and the one with no neck is just like 'hurrrr.' N: Let's watch Arthur. D: No, Dora! S: DORADORADORADORA Adi: Dora is for babies. S: DORADORADORADORADORA. etc.))
So go ahead and buy your kids what they want, or don't. Either way, you can rest secure in the knowledge that most of their hopes will be disappointed.
******
In other news, I did a decent job sticking to my schedule today. I think I actually started to catch up on all the reading I have to do (the secret is to stop reading the proofs, and just trust the book to tell the truth about which theorems are real).
On the other hand, the "workout" bloc turned into the "read random crap online and eat biscuits" bloc. But you know what? That's OK. I'm confident in my body. I like the way I look just as I am. I don't need to torture myself to fit some crazy media ideal of "not a fat pasty blob that hasn't moved in two months."
Fried biscuits. I was eating fried biscuits.
(regarding "pasty" - you know you're in trouble when people from new england are telling you, in mid-January, that you've been looking pale.)
******
Doing terribly on math assignments is probably going to keep me busy for a while longer (if I keep working through my degree at this pace, for several years longer... ). But I'll try to update a bit more frequently, with random quotes and my latest thoughts on books, if nothing else.
I loved this post...'specially the wish for an older brother. So darn funny!
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