Consider yourself warned!
A guide for those who think they want children.
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Last week, one of my friends had her first baby. She had a little boy. I envy her. I miss those days when my kids were little. That was a special time. They were so adorable. I was able to smother them with hugs and kisses and no one would complain. They would just smile at me and wave their little arms and legs. After my ex-husband left for work, and I would lay the baby on the bed and just talk to my baby. It was our special time together. To be quite honest, I can’t remember what I did the rest of the day, but I do remember just laying on the bed, talking to my little angel. I hope my friend will have that same experience. Actually, I hope that for all mothers. There is just something special about bonding with your child. For most mothers, the love that you have for your child multiplies exponentially during that time. There is nothing quite like it.
Eventually, the baby will become a toddler and learn to crawl and then walk. I remember when my babies were learning to walk. I would hold those little hands to steady them. The smile on their faces was infectious. But then, they learned to run. Let me tell you, if you’re not in shape when you have a baby, you will get in shape once they learn to run. I don’t know what it is about babies, but once they start running, they don’t stop. And you really must watch them. I mean, really, really watch them. One minute, the two of you are sitting in the living room watching tv. You’re tired. After all, you’ve been running after a toddler all day. You’re sitting on the couch and you think to yourself, “Let me close my eyes for just five seconds.” I am telling you right now, “Don’t do it!!!” But, you won’t take my advice and you close your eyes anyway. Five seconds turns into at least five minutes. When you finally open your eyes, guess what? That baby is gone! When you realize that your toddler is not where he or she should be, there is a sense of panic. Where is he? What did she get into? Did someone take them? Is everything breakable out of their reach? Wait, do I remember where I put the breakable things, or did I give them all away? When that kid is gone, every worse case scenario goes through your mind. And, mind you, you’re at home! So, you go looking for that kid, and eventually you’ll find him. If your lucky, that toddler is playing with the toys in his room. If you’re not lucky, something of yours will be ruined. Its funny how toddlers always seem to know how to find the expensive stuff. Its like they are born with a homing device that guides them to the pretty, shiny, breakable things. Actually, they have two homing devices. The other one guides them to anything that can make a mess … the dirt from the flower pot, the toilet paper, the egg, yogurt, or milk in the fridge. If it can make a mess, they will find it. So, now you’re mad at yourself for taking a catnap. How dare you? You don’t need to sleep. But you do. You tell yourself, “I know. I can take nap when this baby takes one.” Yeah, good luck with that. First of all, you have to get that baby to take a nap. Nine times out of ten, that child is not ready to go to sleep when you are. You can try laying in bed with him, but I guarantee you that you will fall asleep before your baby does. So, what do you do? You try to tire that kid out. You can try all you like, but at that age, it doesn’t work. I don’t think they ever get tired until they are teenagers. Then, they want to stay in their rooms and sleep, only coming out to use the bathroom and for food. What’s the point to all this? There is none. Sometimes, it feels good cherishing the memories. Make sure to make lots of memories and take lots of pictures. The time just flies by. So, now you know, and you can …. Consider Yourself Warned! Parents, what are your most cherished memories of your baby/toddler days?
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Now, I consider myself to be up with technology. I mean, I use the computer. I have a smart phone, and I know how to look things up on the internet. But, today's kids are so proficient in technology that it amazes me. On any given day, you see will kids as young as 2 playing on their parent's phone or playing on their tablets. These kids know exactly which app to go to and how to manipulate it. It almost seems as if today's kids come out the womb with a degree in computer science and 10 years of work experience. It is scary how they are so advanced.
Recently, I had to buy a new computer. My old one was over 10 years old. It had lived a good life, but it was time to let it go. I decided to do something different. I went and a bought a Mac. I figured hey, since both kids have iPhones, I may as well make this a true iHouse. Besides, I plan on eventually switching over to the iPhone so we can all FaceTime each other when the kids go off to college. I was excited to get the new computer. I couldn't wait to have a computer that is modern and fast. I have to admit; this Mac is much different from the computer I was used to. The commands seem all wrong to me. But eventually, I got the hang of it. Well, at least I thought I had. Last week, I had to send some files from my iPad (which I won as a door prize at a networking event and have been using to check my email when my son is doing his homework on the computer) to one of my friends. In my mind, all I had to do was upload the files to my Google Drive and share them. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! For some reason, the files would not upload to my Google Drive. No matter what I did, it would not upload. Then, I decided to try to upload it to DropBox. Again, it didn't work. Finally, I had to break down and ask my 16-year-old daughter for help. I was really trying to avoid doing that, but I was in a time crunch, and she was willing to help. My daughter changed some settings on my iPad (I still don't know what she changed) and then transferred the files to the computer via AirDrop. I had never heard of that feature before. I tried to pay attention to what she was doing, but her skinny fingers were moving so fast, swiping here and swiping there, I couldn't keep up! Then. It suddenly hit me. This must be how my mother feels when I show her how to work her computer! I have to admit, it made me feel old. I didn't like that feeling. The thing that amazes me is that working that computer was second nature to her. She diagnosed the problem and fixed it quickly. If her first plan of action didn't work, she quickly came up with a new plan of action. I was amazed. This experience taught me that I'm as tech savvy as I thought I was, and that I need to get up to speed so that I can keep up with my kids! Otherwise, I won't have a clue what's going on. If you plan on having kids in this century, you better stay up on technology. If not, you'll be clueless. So, now you know, and you can just ... Consider Yourself Warned! For those of you who have kids, or have been around kids, have you ever had a kid explain anything dealing with technology to you? If so, how did it make you feel? |
SassyGirlTye lives with her two wonderful teenagers in Brooklyn, New York. No matter what she says in her posts, she truly loves her children with all her heart.
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