1 post tagged “family”

Originally published at kristyk.org. You can comment here or there.

I am stricter than a lot of parents I know. But if I let little things slide, eventually I get an avalanche. Usually sooner rather than later. When you are dealing with a lot of kids [and seven counts as a lot!], order is the name of the game. When we were living in Chicago, Mike came home with a painted chicken that says 'because I'm the momma, that's why'. It has been hanging in my kitchen for seven years now. Mia bought me a sign on vacation that also has a place in the kitchen:

If I cook it...........................you eat it.
If I buy it...........................you wear it.
If I wash it...................you put it away.
If I clean it..................you keep it clean.
If I say bed time......you say good night.
If I say get off the phone...you hang up.
If I say no................you don't ask why.
'CAUSE I'M THE MOM

Butterfly's first grade class is learning about the Constitution. She brought home a fill in the blank book she had made. One of the pages required them to write a sentence and draw a picture about why they liked being free. She wrote: "I like being free because I like to play with my dog." I pointed out that we didn't have a dog. "I know," she said. "But that was the only thing I could think of that free people do. If I was free, I would get a dog." I let that one go, because... you never know what they're thinking. I'm still pretty sick, so I wasn't ready to get into a full fledged discussion about freedom with a six year old. I turned the page and saw several pictures of signs: Women Vote! The right to go to school! No slavery! Freedom of Speech! Underneath was another fill in the blank section. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1701. I like having the right to lisin to my MOM. I started laughing. "You like having the right to listen to me?" She rolled her eyes. "That's the only thing I can do.  (sigh)  I'm not really free." Not as long as you live under MY roof, anyway...