Cue Cards

Based on an actual comment by someone involved in "Parenting"

Part of the purpose of this blog is to celebrate the parts of parenting I love the best (the other parts are mostly just random pontification). With that in mind I’m looking forward to the weekend where our family will go hiking, ride bikes, or just walk down to the river to hit things with sticks. That’s just how we roll.

Maybe even a movie! Seeing movies in theaters has an appeal, but watching at home is very satisfying as a parent because we (I) can make remarks at the characters on the screen.

Also watching at home allows for:

• Explaining plot details
• Diffusing too much tensions with wisecracks
• Helping family members understand my views about the world

Other thoughts: This morning I had a conversation with my daughter about responsibility. She was being reflective about losing access to her iPad every night at 9:00 pm in order to facilitate sleep. She mused that generally she saw my wife and I relaxing control over her life.

I told her that when she acted responsibly and built trust with us she could have more freedom, adding that currently she needed work in the room-cleaning, getting-out-of-bed, going-to-sleep-early, and no-door-slamming areas.

The thought of growing responsibility brought us to the topic of teenage drinking. “You don’t need to tell me this Dad,” she said. “I’ve seen some Disney Channel shows that cover this.”

 “Disney doesn’t speak for me,” I said, feeling an urge to sue somebody in Anaheim. “You still have to respectfully listen to what I have to say. Only then can you do whatever you want.”

“Agreed”

The conversation ended when we developed a system to avoid me embarrassing her when she’s a teenager. The idea is that she will script my speech at all public events we attend together. If we are unprepared, I will just loop back to a safe script and babble –  ah, the joys of fatherhood! 

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