Is There A Manual For These Moments?

Life's funny.

I gotta have a license to catch trout. I gotta show 2 forms of ID just to board a 45 minute plane to Wichita.  And I gotta type in my zip code just to use my credit card at the gas pump. 

But never were we asked to prove much of anything when my we decided to become parents.

And now that the little bugger -- at all of 15 months of age -- is climbing kitchen step ladders the second I turn my back to get him a second container of yogurt, I gotta wonder...shouldn't there be some sort of an 'Are you ready and able?' multiple choice test for this parenting job? Or is after-the-fact daddy blogging enough to at least get a passing grade?

P.S. Or could there be at least a manual with some practical tips to head off moments just like these?

Comments

[diane]

Christian,

I can't believe how much he's grown!

Pre-requisites for parenting would severly curtain our school's enrollment. All too many parents seem to believe that their kids should be able to monitor themselves by middle school (if not sooner).

I was a stay-at-home Mom when my kids were small but didn't feel that my responsibilities ended once they became teens.

Kudos to involved parents like you and your wife. Parenting is an adventure and a lifetime committment. You obviously understand that.

Happy holidays!

diane

[Christian]

Diane: I had to laugh at the idea of a parenting test causing a reverse spike in school enrollment. For social satire's sake alone, that would make a great debate.

I keep looking for the "50% Less Growth" button to push. While there is a certain awe-filled pride when he needs a bigger pair of shoes or no longer can fit into his "Pure Gummer" t-shirt, there is also a shade of fear that enters the picture when you begin to see what he can do. This morning? He placed rolls of toilet paper onto the kitchen counter while standing on his tippy-toes. By itself, innocent. And then you begin to realize how close you leave knives or other dangerous items on that same counter throughout the day...and that he can certainly get within finger-grip distance of pulling things down as well as placing things up. In other words, nothing is safe...and he's learning faster and faster how to push the parent-comfort factor over the edge.

Thanks for the comment, Diane!

[Jenny]

A good friend of mine is in the midst of the adoption process. She has had to meet with a social worker several times, have her friends interviewed, and supply vast amounts of paperwork (including a lifetime driving record from the DMV). I can't decide if I think it is insane that she has to go through all of this or if I think my husband and I should have had to do so before we had children. We left the hospital with the first daughter thinking it was unbelievable that they would just let us walk out with her.

Thank goodness kids are so tough, resilient, and quick to learn.

[John Powers]

The challenge, especially for new parents, is to figure out exactly how long the leash is appropriate. Kids have got to establish their own competence, so there's always risk.

You're way ahead of the curve because having taught in classrooms your set of eyes in the back of your head have become well developed. Really, I guess it's a matter of intuition informed by experience: you just know what's coming next. But it's scary too.

A very wise mother of 11 says that parenting is one long heartbreak. Parents bring children into the world so that they can find their own way.

By the way there's no winning in moment's like these. In our family photos is a picture of my sister when she was about two up a ladder peering into a second story window. As adults we've turned and said, What kind of parent runs to get a camera at a time like that?

[Christian]

Jenny -- I suppose it is not that unlike being born in a country vs. becoming a citizen. Somehow we grant those 'born into it' certain provisions while 'newcomers' have to jump through a few hoops.

***

John -- Had I not had the camera right there already, I'd be doing the walk-of-shame as we speak for asking the kid, "Hey, don't move, jump, somersault, or do a backdive...until papa runs down the hall, seeks out a camera, and runs back to scream some sort of 1-2-3-action phrase." Happen to love your "find their way" message, BTW. So humbly true!