Kid's Wisdom

We had a really nice day that I managed to ruin by snapping at the kids. However, we were able to rectify the situation, ending the day on a wonderful evening/supper note, and I owe it all to the kids, who happened to dispense with some sage advice to their grumpy dad.

First, some background info. We tend to be late risers, at least 75% of us are, and though it's fine to wake up in a more natural and organic manner, it complicates things when you're trying to operate on the same schedule as the rest of the world. This crops up now and then when we have to be somewhere in the AM. We had guitar lessons the other day at 10:00 and barely made it on time. Of course, being the obnoxious dad that I am, I gave little lecture about the need to get it together in a more timely fashion. This was especially relevant because over the next two days, we had more morning events that we had to attend, requiring a punctual get-up and go.

Well, the kids sure took it to heart, because the next morning they were up at at 'em by 7:00 AM. I felt guilty, but we did have to hit the road to catch a show at the Hop. There was some sort of modern dance troupe from Brazil, and I figured there'd be lots of break dancing and hip hop, which we all love to watch. The show was, at least for me, a bit disappointing. Too much art and too little pop culture. In a way, it was too esoteric for kids, and geared more to the New York City are set. The kids said they enjoyed it, so that's all that mattered.

After the show, we spent a few minutes at the library, then had pizza for lunch, then headed to the ski hill. We had a great day skiing. We love that ski hill, we get to see a lot of our friends, and afterward it's a party at the lodge, complete with hot cocoa and rambunctious kids. G,K&T were there, whom we haven't seen in awhile, so that was nice.

Anyway, after all was said and done, we went to the car and were all tired and feeling a little crabby. We got into a heated discussion and I snapped at the kids, whereby the situation deteriorated into anarchy, complete with tears and woe. I'm thinking we were all tired after a long day, and maybe the blowup was a good form of release.

Whatever be the case, we cooled down and worked it out, and looked forward to getting home by a warm fire and supper. A dispensed some good advice, as well. She figured that kids get crabby when they are tired and sleep deprived, and since I usually don't get enough sleep and have a tendency to be stressed and crabby at times, maybe I'd benefit from more sleep.

Wow, you gotta love when your kids help you see the light. In all fairness, to root of my stress and crabbiness are more complex in nature, but you have to acknowledge such insight, and the guts to express it. Ah, the joys of parenthood, a great adventure in self discovery.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Bartlomiej Stroinski for the pic.