Proud parenting moments!
Aug. 14th, 2014 07:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauren3210I'll be honest, there are times when I wonder to myself about this parenting lark. It's just so bloody difficult! More often than not, I worry that I'm doing something that will permanently damage these future people, and wonder why I ever thought becoming a parent was a good idea. Occasionally though, things happen that make all that stress and worry worth it, so I thought I'd share a few of those here.
A few weeks ago, I was called to my 14y/o's school in the middle of the day, because she'd been caught fighting. I was concerned, because my baby isn't a fighter; quite apart from the fact that she's absolutely tiny, she's just the kind of person to shy away from confrontation unless it's completely unavoidable. When I get to the school, I'm standing at the reception desk, and her (female) form tutor is telling me what happened. Apparently, an older boy had asked my daughter out in the hallway, and she's turned him down. The boy had then led his group of friends around after her, calling her names and laughing, until he eventually decided that he didn't like her ignoring him and grabbed her arm. My daughter, my tiny-fisted little girl, promptly turned around and punched him in the nose. I raised my eyebrow and said that I hoped she wasn't in trouble for that, because she had every right to defend herself against such a self-entitled twat, and her tutor replied that no, she wasn't. Instead, what she was in trouble for was shouting at her (male) Principle, who had told her that her actions were inappropriate and that violence was not the way to handle a 'little harmless fun'. Apparently, she'd shouted at him that it was 'men like him that told boys it was okay to act that way towards girls were the reason her mother taught her how to punch'. I laughed, and her tutor laughed too and whispered that she agreed. My daughter was then suspended from school for a day, so to celebrate, I took her on a shopping trip, and we had a fantastic day. I'm such a proud mama bear.
It should be noted that my 9y/o is a fairly intelligent girl. She's always top in her class, and is regularly given work from classes above her just to keep her from getting bored in school. She works hard at it though, because she has a very particular goal that she wants to reach as an adult. But do you ever notice how there's always a few 'grown ups' who actually get a little bit of a kick out of proving a kid wrong? Maybe they're subconsciously a little intimidated, or maybe they're just assholes, I don't know. But recently, that one adult was my best friend's husband. We were all out together at a restaurant for lunch, and the kids were talking amongst themselves about what they wanted to be when they grew up. My baby said "I want to be an astrophysicist." This guy heard that, and then proceeded to ask her a dozen questions about space, just to see if he could trip her up. She answered every question immediately and with a look that suggested she thought he was a complete dickhead (which, he was, so), and then at the end, after he'd asked her to list the planets in order of size, he jumped and said "you missed out Pluto!" She gave him a look so scathing I'm surprised he didn't get bruises and said "Pluto is no longer recognised as a planet, do keep up." I think I broke a rib laughing at his face.
So, I'm watching an old episode of Torchwood a few days ago, and I'm just at this scene where Jack Harkness and his ex-husband John Hart are snogging when my littlest walks in. She points at the screen and says "eww!". Concerned, I pause the episode, and we have this conversation:
me: What's wrong?
Immy: Those two boys can't kiss!
me: Why not?
Immy: *points to Jack Harkness* because he's a boy!
Me: But Uncle J and his boyfriend kiss all the time.
Immy: Yes, because they love each other.
Me: So why can't these two boys kiss?
Immy: *points to John Hart* Because he's Spike, and he loves Buffy!
Right then, that'll teach me to jump to conclusions!
[Side note: is it terrible parenting form that my baby knows Buffy the Vampire Slayer so well that she can point out its actors in other shows?]
Sometimes, being a parent is the best thing in the entire world!
A few weeks ago, I was called to my 14y/o's school in the middle of the day, because she'd been caught fighting. I was concerned, because my baby isn't a fighter; quite apart from the fact that she's absolutely tiny, she's just the kind of person to shy away from confrontation unless it's completely unavoidable. When I get to the school, I'm standing at the reception desk, and her (female) form tutor is telling me what happened. Apparently, an older boy had asked my daughter out in the hallway, and she's turned him down. The boy had then led his group of friends around after her, calling her names and laughing, until he eventually decided that he didn't like her ignoring him and grabbed her arm. My daughter, my tiny-fisted little girl, promptly turned around and punched him in the nose. I raised my eyebrow and said that I hoped she wasn't in trouble for that, because she had every right to defend herself against such a self-entitled twat, and her tutor replied that no, she wasn't. Instead, what she was in trouble for was shouting at her (male) Principle, who had told her that her actions were inappropriate and that violence was not the way to handle a 'little harmless fun'. Apparently, she'd shouted at him that it was 'men like him that told boys it was okay to act that way towards girls were the reason her mother taught her how to punch'. I laughed, and her tutor laughed too and whispered that she agreed. My daughter was then suspended from school for a day, so to celebrate, I took her on a shopping trip, and we had a fantastic day. I'm such a proud mama bear.
It should be noted that my 9y/o is a fairly intelligent girl. She's always top in her class, and is regularly given work from classes above her just to keep her from getting bored in school. She works hard at it though, because she has a very particular goal that she wants to reach as an adult. But do you ever notice how there's always a few 'grown ups' who actually get a little bit of a kick out of proving a kid wrong? Maybe they're subconsciously a little intimidated, or maybe they're just assholes, I don't know. But recently, that one adult was my best friend's husband. We were all out together at a restaurant for lunch, and the kids were talking amongst themselves about what they wanted to be when they grew up. My baby said "I want to be an astrophysicist." This guy heard that, and then proceeded to ask her a dozen questions about space, just to see if he could trip her up. She answered every question immediately and with a look that suggested she thought he was a complete dickhead (which, he was, so), and then at the end, after he'd asked her to list the planets in order of size, he jumped and said "you missed out Pluto!" She gave him a look so scathing I'm surprised he didn't get bruises and said "Pluto is no longer recognised as a planet, do keep up." I think I broke a rib laughing at his face.
So, I'm watching an old episode of Torchwood a few days ago, and I'm just at this scene where Jack Harkness and his ex-husband John Hart are snogging when my littlest walks in. She points at the screen and says "eww!". Concerned, I pause the episode, and we have this conversation:
me: What's wrong?
Immy: Those two boys can't kiss!
me: Why not?
Immy: *points to Jack Harkness* because he's a boy!
Me: But Uncle J and his boyfriend kiss all the time.
Immy: Yes, because they love each other.
Me: So why can't these two boys kiss?
Immy: *points to John Hart* Because he's Spike, and he loves Buffy!
Right then, that'll teach me to jump to conclusions!
[Side note: is it terrible parenting form that my baby knows Buffy the Vampire Slayer so well that she can point out its actors in other shows?]
Sometimes, being a parent is the best thing in the entire world!
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(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 06:30 pm (UTC)Btw, I sort of adore the Jack/John pairing! Their fight/snog session in the bar was epic!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 07:57 pm (UTC)omg yes! That fight/kiss scene was the hottest thing ever! (although Jack/Ianto was my ship *cries forever*)
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 06:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 07:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 07:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 07:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-14 08:00 pm (UTC)I was very impressed by my eldest, she's clearly been listening to my feminism rants to her dad LOL
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-15 10:18 am (UTC)How I wish you guys live next door! Awesome family ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-15 10:22 am (UTC)