Tis the season for Christmas and all through the house you find family and friends. The Holiday season brings a lot of family and friends whether at your house or traveling on the road. That means a whole lot of conflicting information for a kid from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
At our last playgroup the topic of "knowing what is best for our kids"came up for discussion among us moms. With so many extended family and family friends around, kids often are shuffled from one command to another. Do this, do that, do not do this, do not do that....and on it goes.
A big parenting frustration of mine is when mommy or daddy is standing in the room trying to give orders, correct their kid, or see to their kids' needs, and a third party interrupts them offering their own advice and/or their own instruction. For example, I can be telling Judah something important (to his
well being) and have someone else interrupt me midway through conversation to tell him something different. Excuse me.
I have also experienced people who do not listen to the parents' wishes and instructions by ignoring them or choosing simply not to listen. Sometimes mommies have specific instructions as to to the care of the child only to have these wishes seen as obsolete by a third party. There is a reason perhaps mommy says.... "you need a hat." The kid is getting over an ear infection...."do not nap with them." Just like last time, the kid will never fall asleep from the extra stimulation. Not cool.
Now I am no exception to the rule. I have been known on
occasion to tell another mom's kid no only to have to stop midway to
apologize for
superseding their authority, especially in front of them. And so I just simply have this conversation with my mommy friends if it
OK to say "no" to their child. And we all agree that if their safety is in jeopardy, then go ahead and by all means say "no." I have also learned that if their mommy is present, it is better to hold my tongue. After all, I would not want them to question my authority in front of my kids, making life more difficult for all parties.
At the end of the day, parents know what is best for their kid. Sure, someone else like a grandparent may overall have more experience as they have been there, done that with their own kids. However, these loved ones do not have THAT experience with MY kid....in which times, personalities, and circumstances can be different. Moms (and dads) knows best to what makes their kid tick, get tired, get sick, be tempted. Perhaps that is why we are the best candidate to take care of our kids. And the best ones to tell them what is what.
