Parenting 01

Most parents will tell you that if the child is being too quiet, you have a problem.

With me, if my child is standing right next to me, chatting away but I am not fully engaged, I have a problem.

Little Man decided to keep me company this evening while I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. He had been coloring away with his crayons but apparently grew bored and decided mama needed some company. So while I am scrubbing down the sink and counter tops he babbles on. I give the obligatory "Yeah? How exciting." at the appropriate pauses but other than that, I am not paying attention to what he is actually doing. Nor am I paying attention to the strange sound hovering around the edges of his chatter.

My subconscious finally screams through to my conscious and I actually look at what he is doing. My once white dishwasher is now decorated with orange crayon. I can't get too upset with the child.

1. His mother cannot stand white spaces. I see white and the urge to pull out my paints and brushes becomes almost unbearable.

2. Are you ready for this? Forget Parenting 101. I need Parenting 01. I never actually told this child the crayons were only to be used on paper and specific paper at that.

So I spend the next 10 minutes trying very hard to convince my son that he is not in trouble and he didn't truly do anything wrong. It seriously is not his fault but if he would please contain his coloring to paper that mommy or daddy gives him.

Thank the Goddess for washable appliances and washable crayons and then thank her some more for gently teaching me a very obvious lesson in parenting. She could have provided the kid with a florescent pink Sharpie...