I think I especially like the part where she calls me Emily. Don't you think she has superb grammatical skills...I mean, did you see where she clarified her concept in parenthesis? Do I need to translate? No please, allow me: (with spelling corrections, naturally)Dear Emily, You are bad. You are [a] wacky bad grown up. I mean very, very BAD! I (and not you) am going to the store. And by the way, tomorrow I am walking to school. By Haley.
After all, she did decorate with stickers. It must be her way of saying, "you cut me deep but I still love you"...in her own little way.
So remind me again--who thought it was a good idea to teach kids to read and write? Couldn't we just keep them illiterate until they reach an age of maturity?...but let's face it, for some of us, that day might never come.
I almost cried and then reminded myself that it was actually funny...also not the first time I have been told this (and it won't be the last, I'm sure.) I like to take it as a sign that I am doing my job as mother, parent, disciplinarian, and warden. 10 points for me. I kept my cool, followed through and even gave up breadsticks just to teach my child a lesson. Did she learn? Who really knows...only time will tell...again...and again...and again.
Give me a moment to wipe away a tear of gratitude for these satisfying gifts of motherhood that are sometimes awarded daily.
26 comments:
Wow. I had a very similar day with my oldest daughter. *sigh* By the end of it all she owed me 55 cents and time in her room until dad came home.
I can sympathize with you. I have been handed many a note from our oldest explaining, in detail, why she is angry, what is hurting her, etc. The best is when you "accidentally come upon" an 8-year old's diary. I sure hope my grandkids do not form an opinion of me based solely on the written thoughts of their 8-year old mother.
The only thing you can remind yourself of in these moments is...one day this will be hilarious. :) Way to go keeping your cool, and all. Haley is lucky to have you around, Emily. :)
On the bright side, at least she doesn't bottle up all her emotions and act out in strange and mysterious ways that no one understands. I really enjoy the one that bottles it all up, but it isn't healthy for him and we really want our children to be as good at expressing themselves as Haley is. I give her an A+ for letting it all out. I give you an A+++ for serviving it.
I give you marks for DESERVING it! Way to go Mom. At least she knows your name! I don't think I knew our mother's name until I was a teenager!
Remember the binder Mo put together this past reunion? It was all notes of this kind. I am so glad she kept them. I wonder why there weren't any from me... there were a lot ABOUT me!
And a comment on the Mia chin video, what's with her Chewbaka voice when she says her age? Ah~, we miss the girls. i wish they would write us notes... kind ones.
And Sheaux wants to know what Booger was trying to take to school.
I love how a child's determination can outweigh reason so easily. I am referring to the "I (and not you) are going to the store." Forget how she'll get there, but she is going and that will show you, you bad wacky adult! (I've always thought you were pretty wacky myself.)
Abby was just trying to take a stuffed animal...she also regularly tries to smuggle her little purse stuffed to the bring with her typical junk.
I meant, stuffed to the brIM.
Seriously the fact that she used the word wacky cracks me up. I use wacky as a complement
Aren't you glad also that you have spunky interesting children and not nambie-pambie boring ones? At least that is what I used to tell myself. Get a notebook and some page protectors and save all of these gems--you'll be glad you did! Whacky? Where did she get that one?
i am loving that letter! there is no doubt that elle will be writing me one of those one day when she learns to write well enough. glad to hear what goes on at other's homes. it makes me feel like i'm not alone.
Wacky is a good word!! Isn't this age wonderful. About 2 weeks ago, Kaylee had a massive fit when I dropped her off at school and she was in serious trouble when she got home. I got about the same response, but in words. I was also laughing to myself about the whole thing. Way to keep your cool.
Aren't you relieved that our mothers didn't have a blog to post our bratiness to the entire world? I can't wait til tomorrow to hear about her long walk to school. I'm not sure how that hurts YOU but since you're so wacky, maybe it does. I'm sure letter translates to "Emily, you're the best mom in the whole wide wacky world".
Oh man- When I was reading this I thought about this past weekend... My mom, sister and I went to Deseret Books' Time Out For Women in Mass. One of the speakers (Merrilee Boyack
author, The Parenting Breakthrough and Strangling Your Husband Is Not an Option) said that she is a mother of 4 boys and you can't be friends with your kids- you are their mother. So in reference to that she said- "when they say 'I hate you', I think 'I'm doing something right!"
I thought that was pretty funny... so bravo- you are doing something right! ha ha ha
Thank you so much for making me laugh so explosively hard, it sure was a stress reliever. That was the best post I have read in a long time. Your daughter is fantastic.
My favorite parts were her calling you by your first name and her use of the word Wacky. Did she mention the note to you later when she wasn't so mad? I can't wait to see what kinds of notes I get when Madelyn can write words.
I love it- the pride in their writing and consternation at what it says! I suppose (hope) that is a sign of a good mother.
HILARIUOS!!!! I love the note - what a little smartie! And I LOVE the image of you NOT chasing your daughter around at the bus stop.
Isn't it harder than you tought it would be to be a grown up when you're surrounded by kids ALL the time?! Ha-ha-ha! I love your posts. And I gotta add this: that's what you get for having so many GIRLS!!
If I didn't know how you felt I would think this was just plain funny. But, it is funny, even if still a little hard. I've told myself before that motherhood is a real test on one's self esteem!
wow. thanks for pointing out the parenthesis, because I didn't notice it. She put some thought into this. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. Thanks for sharing with us:) I have not yet recieved such a warm notice from my child, but I now look forward to it:)
Ha ha Ha! that was sooo funny. :)
Well, I have to agree a little with Haley - you are a rather wacky adult. What smart children you have!
My friend had her first "I don't like you moment" with her three year old. Her perspective was great...She said that if she's doing her job right, there will be a lot of times when her kids don't like her. I'll have to remember that!
You need to keep this note and show it to her when she has a daughter in the years to come!
I am interested in the distinction between "bad" and "wacky bad."
I'm glad that you held your ground.
So I actually have a journal that complains about how mom wouldn't buy me "Nike" tennis shoes but made me get the "cheap, no-name brands" and how awful it was and then I finish the whole thing off with a bold "I AM NOT GOING TO COLLEGE!" because I guess that was the most horrible thing I could think of in my 9-year old brain??
Then there is the time I ran away but only made it to the basement because it was raining outside and then I only made it until lunch because I was really hungry.
So...you may be wacky but it all makes for a great story when they get older! (And I guess passion and drama definitely run in the family!)
That's so funny, because just last week I read the letters I wrote to mom telling her that her children needed serious psychiatric help and how inferior her parenting was... the embarrassing thing is that I was in high school... the NERVE!
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