Thursday, November 01, 2007

Nov. 1: What Kind of a Parent Am I?

Tertia had an interesting meme/questionnaire on her site a couple days ago that I wanted to do, but since I got into so much trouble there the last time I posted, I'm going to just copy and paste here with my answers. As Tertia said on her blog, if you have kids, let me know what kind of a parent you are; if you don't have kids but hope to, let me know what kind of a parent you hope to be.

I would never:
Have another child. Does that count? If not, here's another: Hit or humiliate my son.

I always:
Tell him I love him and hug and kiss him about a million times a day.

I got an easy ride when it came to:
Potty training: it only took a week and wasn't that bad.

The part I dislike most about parenting is:
The constant worry and anxiety and guilt about everything related to my son and how I parent him; the comparison game with other parents; bedtime battles and middle-of-the-night wakings; never knowing whether you're doing the right thing or not; seeing all the bad parts of my mother come out in me when Bubba pisses me off.

The part I love most about parenting is:
Hugs, kisses, cuddling, hearing Bubba say "I love you," all the hilarious things he does every day.

My terrible parenting secret is:
Am I only allowed one? Probably would be that I smoked when I was pregnant. I will NEVER stop feeling bad about that one. There's also the time I left him alone in the car when I ran in to get a prescription. He was sick, sleeping, cool outside, and I knew it would only take about 60 second. Still, I used to say I'd never do that.

I would describe my approach to discipline as:
Good intentions, not so great on the follow-through. I give in too often when he cries because1) I hate it when he's sad and 2) I have a very low threshold for crying/tantrums.

My worst parenting habit:
Again, just one? Parking him in front of his DVDs to clean the house, take a shower, and smoke on the porch. God, I sound trashy!

The one thing I am really proud of is:
How hard I have worked to overcome postpartum depression, not be so angry, and be more in control when Bubba has a meltdown, and, going hand-in-hand with that, how Bubba and I have a really good, close relationship now.

I probably am too lenient when it comes to:
Letting him watch TV, letting him sleep with J. or me, and letting him eat sugary stuff.

I hope my kids inherit my:
Ability to feel and express emotion (I know, he's a boy...it's a long shot); empathy; willingness to be wacky sometimes.

I hope my kids don’t inherit my:
Mental health issues--the inability to be happy no matter what.

I love that my kids are:
Genuinely and intentionally funny--he's a little comedian and I love it; generally sweet and loving; social with other kids and adults.

The thing I miss most about my pre-mom days is:
The ability to be completely irresponsible sometimes. There's never really a "day off" because even when they're with someone else you trust, you still worry about him, think about him, talk about him, miss him.

Motherhood is:
Indescribable, in every sense of that word--the good, the bad, the ugly.

5 comments:

Aurelia said...

Good meme!

And no you won't get into trouble I'm sure. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm dying to know what you did to get in trouble! I could totally get in trouble on that blog. I'm sure I read your comment back in June and smirked while agreeing right along with you!

thrice said...

Ditto! good meme......

Roxanne said...

Ha! I love you. Glad you're back. Baby Wigg has a intimate acquaintance with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I'm going to mommy hell.

Tingle said...

I wish you weren't so hard on yourself, but I can understand somewhat since not a day goes by that I don't think about my son, even though I never knew him alive outside of my body. I can only imagine how much anxiety and worry it would be every time your kid is out of sight.

I think most parents are just trying to get through and keep the peace - whatever it takes. Because, like you said, there's never a break, it's 24/7, and if that means they watch DVDs or eat sugary stuff so you do get a 20 minute break, oh well.

Look at us, we're like the first generation raised on TV and videogames and all that - and we're pretty smart cookies if you ask me - and we're functioning in society so that's a good thing.

I think no parent says, "I'm mom of the year!" I think my mom was the best, most sacrificing parent ever, and she still thinks she wasn't and says the only reason we came out so well was because of us, not her. I give her all the credit.

One of my favorite quotes from her that she told me when we were just thinking about having kids and I had this fear of "messing up the kid's life" was this:

"It's harder to screw them up than you think."