Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Tower of Terror


One recent wintry Saturday morning, the family is lounging around the house after a nice big breakfast as per usual.  Since it is the weekend, I decide to take advantage of the help and set myself to work on the kitchen.  I am busying myself in the kitchen attempting to make a dent in the dirty dishes while Jeff plays with the kids.

I am not really paying attention to what they are doing because I am focused on trying to reduce the filth a little and my ears are only tuned in to the "screaming in pain" alert level.  (If I ever woke up and my house was spotless, I would FOR SURE know I was in the Matrix.  But that's a whole other post.) Plus, Jeff is watching the boys so I know they are in excellent hands.

After a few minutes in the kitchen, J yells, "Mama, look at me!  Look at me!" So, I glance up from the sink and see the picture above.  (No joke.  I kid you not.)

My first reaction is "Oh cheese and biscuits!  That looks dangerous. I don't know about that slide."  Then I watch J slide down the slide smiling and laughing, then my second reaction is, "Look at my sweet boy having so much fun. I'll be sure to watch him so he doesn't get hurt."  (And my third reaction is, "Wow.  Jeff made another cool contraption for the kids to play with/on/under.")

Every parent has different ways of parenting.  From my observations, there seems to be a few prominent styles.  Some of the most prevelant styles appear to be laid back, helicopter, kamikaze (You know who you are!), or a mixture.

I freely admit that I am a helicopter parent.  I am a helicopter parent because I am a wigster.  (What is a wigster? A wigster is someone who "wigs out" on a frequent, daily basis over lots and lots of life happenings.)  I have always been a wigster (or a "worrier of sorts" if you will) but it seemed to intensify after having kids.  Even though, I will say I think I have mellowed out after having my second kid. (The people who know me are probably laughing hysterically right now.  But, I HAVE mellowed out, honestly, even if it's just a little.  You gotta give me that.)

Jeff and I have differenting parenting styles, thus we like to do different things with the kids.  When I am playing with the boys, we do things like color, paint, do puzzles, play trains, and ride bikes.  (Nice, safe quiet things.) When Jeff is playing with the boys, they do things like wrestle, run through obstacle courses, jump off chairs onto the bed, "see if you can knock me down while wearing a pillow" and the tower of terror (as pictured above).

Maybe it's our different parent styles.  Maybe it's because they are all boys and boys like to be active (very, very active).  Maybe it's because I am more of a worrier and Jeff is more laid back.  I'm really not sure.

But, that's okay.  I think it's great that J and L have Jeff and I who love them more than life itself.  It's doesn't really matter what your parenting style or how you spend time with your kids.  It just matters that you do.

25 comments:

  1. That looks like so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He sure loved it! Made me nervous but he had so much fun.

      Delete
  2. That looks like a lot of fun. My kids would love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The boys sure loved it, eventhough it made me a little nervous! Just checked out your blog. Love the title and your recent article. Very cheeky. ;)

      Delete
  3. Terrifying.
    I would freak out. And secretly play with it when the girls were sleeping. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha! Love your blog and your positive outlook! Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  4. Having a balance is good. My husband is the adventurer -let them climb to the roof if they want to kind of guy and I am more the one to wig out. But, with two boys, I have mellowed over the years. Fun story! Love the tower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I appreciate you stopping by.
      I agree! I think it is good if you have some balance so all bases are covered!

      Delete
  5. I just found you from Writers on Edge link up. So glad I did! I say cheese and biscuits all the time. :) Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello there! Glad you stopped by. With little ones around, I have to watch my "profane" words so I end up saying "cheese and biscuits" all the time. We also say Monkey Dollar too. As in, "What the Monkey Dollar are you up to?!" It's crazy really but isn't all parenthood!

      Delete
  6. Lol. My house looks like thatall the time! Visiting from the writing hop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by!
      Ha! Good to know I am not alone in the chaos!

      Delete
  7. HA! Definitely scary at first glance but seems like you've got a great handle on balance ... it's refreshing to see parents letting their kids be kids. I always see the super worry-warts or the ones who don't pay much attention until they hear a crash. haha - great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! My husband is the engineer of the house and he is great at constructing all kinds of things for the kids.
      Just checked out your blog. Love the "don't hate me for being ridiculous". Too funny!

      Delete
  8. that's awesome :) I like your descriptions and the discussion pf parenting sprung from the picture of the tower of terror :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! My kids give me ALL kinds of great ideas for blog posts.

      Delete
  9. no way I could've let that stay up, i'm so worried about the kids getting hurt, that would've just set my heart on overload

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was pretty nervous about it. Once I saw it was up, I was over there while they played on it the whole time. As soon as they got bored (which was quite a while), I immediately took it down. They sure loved it though. :)

      Delete
  10. I am not a worrier but that picture scared the crap out of me! If I glanced in my living room and saw that I may have gone ballistic.

    (But it does look pretty cool!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear you. I think my heart skipped a beat when I first saw it. They sure enjoyed it!
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  11. find out here g8u17q3p20 replica bags china replica bags india replica bags hermes discover this z0m47w9b27 replica bags vuitton best replica ysl bags gucci fake c3j82d4c46 replica bags online shopping

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and commenting!