So, with a little luck, I should be back to regular posting. Lately, work has taken over my life and that is never fun. But, while there isn't any fun to be had at work, there are always good times around the house.
For instance, this past weekend we went to a kindergarten birthday party. Of course, said birthday boy invited his ENTIRE kindergarten class and EVERY SINGLE one attended so it was just like another day of school. And this kindergarten class is no piece of cake, it's 2-1 boys to girls so it's extra full of energy. It should be noted, after dealing with an entire kindergarten for 2 hours, my perception that teaching a kindergarten class would be easy or a "piece o'cake" is so incredibly wrong that I will admit I was wrong.
But, back at the party, I discovered the origins of "keeping up with the Jones's". The birthday boy gave a tour of his room and showed off all his toys and of course, Boy was suitably impressed. But, the thing that impressed him most… beyond the race sets, beyond even all the spiderman action figures was the fact that his little friend had a television in his room.
Now, we won't get into the ridiculousness of a 5-6 year old having a television in his room, but Boy was in awe. So much so, we discussed it later.
Boy: Daddy, I want a television in my room for Christmas.
Daddy: That's nice but we don't have televisions in our rooms. Mommy and I don't have one. Girl and Tiny don't have one, so you can't have one.
The boy is used to hearing no to his endless requests but the TV in the room was apparently too impressive to let go. He continued on....
Boy: Well, when can I have a TV in my room?
Daddy: When you have your own house then you can have one.
Personally, I thought this was a good answer. If he asked, I could ramble on about saving money and hard work and so forth and so on. Or, better yet, he would be stumped and the issue would pass. But, the conversation took an unexpected turn....
Boy: When can I buy a house?
Daddy: When you're 18
Boy: I wanna go live at Grandma's
Once again, Daddy is outwitted by the little Man.
Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteAh, a conversation I know well. Mine are 8 and 6. To talk to them you'd think they were the only kids in school without TVs in their rooms. This is definitely something you'll want to stick to your guns on. Most of the kids I know that have TVs in their rooms are being raised by the TV more than their parents.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, a good retort to Boy wanting to live with Grandma is that Grandma didn't let you have a TV in your room as a kid, either. Of course, he'll probably have a good resonse to that, too.
Glad you're standing firm.
ReplyDeleteDon't add a TV to your room at any point, either. ;) I hear couples with television in their bedroom get less nooky.
Once, when we were at McDonald's an incredulous cashier asked Pam if all of our five children were her's. After she said yes, he asked, "Don't you have a TV in your room?".
ReplyDeleteOf course, we don't for just the reason you cited Arielle!
Actually, I do have a TV in my room. Still lots of action. You just have to focus on what's important.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of looks in public places, you should try my wife's situation. I'm a pale, freckled, red head and she's medium complexion black. Our two kids are both near to white as me, though they at least tan. Anyway, when she's out with them without me, she gets a lot of looks. Anything out of people's expectations, I suppose, be it more than 3 kids or kids who don't look much like one of the parents.
We have a TV in our room, it's just never turned on. Actually we have 3 TVs and only the one in the living room is ever made use of. Mostly I blame this on André's refusal to throw away anything that he thinks he can fix in the unforeseeable future.
ReplyDelete