Sweet Surrender

My parents spoiled us, and in some ways they still do.  I don't mean this in the way that we were brats, although sometimes we totally were, what I mean is that even though there are three of us and attention was sometimes hard to come by they always found little ways to indulge us.  Those moments always meant so much to me personally, heck they still do.

This is why I'm trying to take the same approach to parenting as my mom and dad did.  Knowing when to bend the rules just a little in a way that will be meaningful to the minions.

When I was 12 years old I discovered a TV show that I fell in love with.  Unfortunately for me, it aired at 10PM every Monday night, half an hour after my weekday bedtime.  The show was Northern Exposure, and my mom loved it just as much as I did.  Each Monday, for a couple of years, my bedtime was extended until 11PM sharp.  We'd sit together, me often with a warm cup of milk, and watch each week.  Sometimes my mom would braid my hair, or put it in curlers for me, and other times we'd just cuddle up on the couch while we escaped to the eccentricities of the folks from Cecily Alaska.  Those Mondays made me feel so grown-up, so special, that I still think of it often today.

In Daddy's Shoes

Whenever my mom was away my dad would order way too much Chinese food so we'd all have leftovers for lunches that would last for days.

Both of my siblings were very athletic, I was not. That being said, when I signed up for swim team in high school, my parents sat in the stands watching me compete.

Another thing that comes to mind is pie.  I don't like pie, specifically I don't like pie crust.  This shocks and offends a lot of people, I get it, but I don't care...I think it's gross.  Here's the thing about my mom: she made crust less pie just for me...I'd always get a small dessert dish with pumpkin pie, or lemon pie filling, and no disgusting crust.  This little indulgence always made me feel so completely and totally loved.

Now that Molly and Jack are a little bit older I've come to look to indulge them in meaningful treats, ust as my parents did.

I let Jack change into PJ's before dinner if he wants.  I'll blow bubbles at the minions while they're in the bath and let them pop them.  I give Molly old jewelry and shoes for dress-up, we wear costumes together.  Chris builds the kids forts.  We dance on the bed and listen to the song Tubthumping by Chumbawamba and tackle the kids any time the lyrics "I Get Knocked Down" play, several times a week.  I pick the minions off direct from school on the nights they have swimming and we walk home together hand in hand.  On Saturdays while Molly is at dance class Jack and I go for a walk and pick out donuts the two of them would like. These sweet moments together will always mean a lot to me....I wonder which of them will stick with them as they get older. I guess only time will tell!  It will probably be something we haven't even thought of!


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