Parenting is a Roller-Coaster Ride
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I know this particular article Link has caused a big stir. I thought of deleting it because of how heinously horrible it is, and I even hesitated to write it at all, but my need to keep things real was too strong to leave this bad day out of my journal. How many parents ever talk about it so publicly? I dare say few parents do, because they probably have close friends & family to talk to. Well, I felt the need to talk about it...maybe my blog was a poor choice for an outlet, but it was therapeutic for me, and I don't care what others think. That's the only thing that separates me from most other parents. If any parent says they've never lost their temper and were irrational for a few minutes, they'd be lying.
On the upside, I know how to step away from a situation when my temper gets the best of me. That's exactly what I did that day. It wasn't until the end of the day that I wrote down what happened. By then I was quite over the incident, but I was still feeling glum enough to be a little openly morbid. Oh well. I'm human. And I aint' gonna kill no one. Not even myself. I have a spiritual education through which I've learned that the eternal consequences of suicide are much worse than the pain endured by sticking it out and getting through life. And the rewards of making it through life, living, learning, and growing, especially as a parent, are too enormous to dream of throwing away.
My son is the cutest, smartest little dude in the universe, just like any parent will tell you about their child. It's true. Every child is all that, and more. I love him like crazy, and I want the absolute best for him. That's why I took it so seriously when I felt like blowing a gasket that day.
Remember that great Steve Maritin movie from the 80's ..."Parenthood" ? Well, I can identify with a ton of the subject material in it...One thing that occurs to me over and over is the "roller coaster" scene. The kids in the family are in a school play, and the parents worked hard to get the kids ready for it, to get them there on time, then they sit in the audience to enjoy the play. Until one kid does something to disrupt the scene in the middle of the play, then it dominoes into all the kids getting riled up, then the scenery falls apart, and the whole play is ruined. Steve Martin's character watched in horror as things just fell apart, and he was getting ready to blow a gasket. Just then he remembers something that an elderly family member told him, "Life is like a roller coaster. Some people enjoy it, and some don't. To enjoy life, we have to learn to enjoy the roller coaster." When she said it seemingly out of the blue one day, Steve dismissed it as a senile comment. It wasn't until the chaos at the school play that he understood the wisdom she packed into that statement. Steve looked around, and saw that even though everything fell apart and didn't go as planned, the parents were laughing and enjoying themselves. The kids were having fun too. So he decided to enjoy himself, and he didn't blow a gasket. He gained some fundamental wisdom that day.
So I need to learn to enjoy the "roller coaster" too. Roller coasters are truly fun at amusement parks, but it's not like I have to stay on it all through life, with nary a chance to get off. So I also recently learned that I have the right to get off the roller coaster time and time again. I have the right to ask for a babysitter so that I can go to an aerobics class occasionally. I did just that today, and I only hope that I can be so bold any time I need a break and some time away.
On the upside, I know how to step away from a situation when my temper gets the best of me. That's exactly what I did that day. It wasn't until the end of the day that I wrote down what happened. By then I was quite over the incident, but I was still feeling glum enough to be a little openly morbid. Oh well. I'm human. And I aint' gonna kill no one. Not even myself. I have a spiritual education through which I've learned that the eternal consequences of suicide are much worse than the pain endured by sticking it out and getting through life. And the rewards of making it through life, living, learning, and growing, especially as a parent, are too enormous to dream of throwing away.
My son is the cutest, smartest little dude in the universe, just like any parent will tell you about their child. It's true. Every child is all that, and more. I love him like crazy, and I want the absolute best for him. That's why I took it so seriously when I felt like blowing a gasket that day.
Remember that great Steve Maritin movie from the 80's ..."Parenthood" ? Well, I can identify with a ton of the subject material in it...One thing that occurs to me over and over is the "roller coaster" scene. The kids in the family are in a school play, and the parents worked hard to get the kids ready for it, to get them there on time, then they sit in the audience to enjoy the play. Until one kid does something to disrupt the scene in the middle of the play, then it dominoes into all the kids getting riled up, then the scenery falls apart, and the whole play is ruined. Steve Martin's character watched in horror as things just fell apart, and he was getting ready to blow a gasket. Just then he remembers something that an elderly family member told him, "Life is like a roller coaster. Some people enjoy it, and some don't. To enjoy life, we have to learn to enjoy the roller coaster." When she said it seemingly out of the blue one day, Steve dismissed it as a senile comment. It wasn't until the chaos at the school play that he understood the wisdom she packed into that statement. Steve looked around, and saw that even though everything fell apart and didn't go as planned, the parents were laughing and enjoying themselves. The kids were having fun too. So he decided to enjoy himself, and he didn't blow a gasket. He gained some fundamental wisdom that day.
So I need to learn to enjoy the "roller coaster" too. Roller coasters are truly fun at amusement parks, but it's not like I have to stay on it all through life, with nary a chance to get off. So I also recently learned that I have the right to get off the roller coaster time and time again. I have the right to ask for a babysitter so that I can go to an aerobics class occasionally. I did just that today, and I only hope that I can be so bold any time I need a break and some time away.