There are a lot of Mamas I don't wanna be: Helicopter Mama, I'm-Your-Best-Friend Mama, Drug Addict Mama, My-Needs-Are-More-Important-Than-Yours Mama, Your-Needs-Are-More-Important-Than-Anyone's Mama. You get the idea. Its a hard balance to be sure.
Last week was Hayden's 11th birthday. Every year, I am so surprised at how much and how fast he and Lily are growing. All he wanted this year was Legos. Legos. Oh, and Legos. Which is pretty much his list every holiday. I decided to surprise him. I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I got him a phone.
And I really did not wanna be THAT Mama.
He has asked me before when he could get a phone. I always thought that was a ridiculous question. My answer, invariably, would be, "When you get a driver's license. Maybe a year or two before if I think you need it."
Well, I thought he needed it. Or at least I did. We have had quite a bit of upheaval in our family this past year. Some of that necessitates the kids being away from me or from their Daddy for several days in a row. And neither of us has a home phone anymore. So, I was always worried if I went to work for a few hours on the weekend and left the kids at home. Granted, they were not unattended. My Mom and Dad are right across the pond. But, I always had that tinge of guilt. Bit of worry. As we Moms do.
So he got a phone out of it. Not a bad deal I suppose. But, since he got one way sooner than I had intended, I of course had to put my spin on it. His smile when he opened the phone faded just a little when he saw what was included:
Yeah, I'm Mean Mama. I made him sign it. I'm keeping it, too. Of course his Uncle Chad said he shouldn't have signed anything without letting him look it over first. Lesson learned, little man.
They do just grow up so darn fast. He can be responsible. And this will be a good chance to prove that. Although his attitude sorta stinks. My Dad made a comment to Hayden as we were sitting by the pool the other day that I had gotten my first job as a lifeguard when I was 15 and had worked ever since. Hayden's reply to that was, "Yeah, thats the bad thing about getting older. People expect more out of you." : /
See what I'm working with here? Its gonna be a long row to hoe. For him AND me. But I know it will be worth it, this parenting thing.
Besides, being the oldest, he's the practice kid. Lily will get the good stuff.
That's awesome! Great post.
My standard reply to Betsy when she asks that question is "when you can pay the monthly bill yourself". If she counters with "my friends don't have to pay for theirs!", then I just tell her that she should go live with her friends. ;-)
Posted by: Bobby Nations | July 02, 2013 at 09:12 AM