Ok, well, it's been a few days since my last post. Things have been pretty busy in the Gertsch house this last week. Lots going on, we were all sick in different intervals... what a week. So to make up for being gone for a bit, I'd like to throw you all a post that is designed to receive interaction.
Pet peeves. Everyone has them. Allow me to re-phrase that. Everyone has PERSONAL pet peeves, that apply to any and every aspect of their own lives. But when you become a parent, suddenly you develop all new ones that relate to your children; whether they be about something your child does, or just how something affects your child. So let's get on to it then, and then you guys can share yours as well, because I'd love to hear them all! As with all my lists, these are in no particular order because they all irritate me just the same.
1.) Family restrooms. What a novel idea. A place for a breastfeeding mother to take her child for a bit of refuge from the prying eyes of the entire mall, a place where daddies can take their little girls potty, or mommies can take their little boys, or heck, a place for the WHOLE FAMILY to go together. The point is, these bathrooms are designed for those of us with children, to have a little easier place to get potty business done. My peeve: When I'm waiting and waiting for the family bathroom to open up, and when it finally does, out strolls a grown man or woman, BY THEMSELVES!!!! GAAAAAHHHH! This infuriates me. These bathrooms are a convenience to people with children, not to indulge a person's need for personal private time on the john.
2,) The eternal journey to the potty. Parents: Does it not blow your mind that the only time your child has to go potty is when you've finally made it to the opposite end of the store?? And to add the cherry on top, isn't it that much sweeter when you make it there after carrying the child, and dodging countless people with no sense of store-aisle etiquette, only to hear her say, "I don't have to go right now." How about when this happens multiple times? Even. Better. Now, don't mistake this peeve for one that incites anger in me. It certainly irritates me, since we're usually trying to get the shopping done and be on our way. But as my wife reminds me pretty regularly: "What if she really does have to go?" Hmmm... run to the bathroom, or chance it, and then clean her off, after going to the bathroom anyway?
3.) The game show parent. This one is specifically for my good friend Ken. We laugh about this one quite regularly. Picture this: You encounter a couple in the store and somehow strike up a conversation, maybe you know them somehow. They also have a small child. You turn to the child, and to have them be part of the conversation as well, ask, "Wow, cool shoes!! What color are they?" Immediately, the parent mentally slams their hand down on their buzzer and says, "They're red." *Facepalm* Yes lady, I'm not blind, I'm well aware of what color your child's shoes are, I was asking THE CHILD to give the opportunity for them to answer me, and show me that they know their colors. The best is when a child is at the stage where they're beginning to count, and understand age. "Oh wow, you're gettin' big! How old are you?" BUZZ!!! "She's three." *Facepalm*
4.) The heathens. No, this is not a religious disagreement. I mean the children who barrel through you or your kid at the store, or the park, and create a general sense of havoc and disarray wherever they go. The part that peeves me about this? The parents, sitting idly by, playing on their smartphones, or simply meandering through the store with their carts, paying no heed whatsoever to their rowdy, obnoxious children. Now, I'm not a total stiff, I'll play hide & seek with my daughter in the department store, come on, what else are all those racks of tacky, ugly clothing for? But come on, if your child is running amok, rein em in! I cringe every time we go to the park and there are kids like this there. My daughter will get to the top and be ready to slide down the big slide, and up behind her comes the ill-behaved children. My only thought is that they're going to push her down, and she'll tumble off the side or something.
5.) The know-betters. These are the parents who have very rigid parenting techniques, that they are pretty certain were sent by God himself, and therefore, are the ONLY parenting techniques. They are also generous enough to constantly share that perspective with you, and insist that you shouldn't "Let your child do that" or some other ridiculous little tid bit. Without knowing the full situation about a person's parenting style, don't criticize it. Nobody's saying yours is wrong, I'm saying don't push it on me.
6.) The kid owners. One thing that absolutely drives me nuts, are the parents who have children, maybe a few, who take the time to have their kids, and then any time you see them, they're either never with their kids, or never acknowledging them, similar to a pet owner. They'll sit and ignore their kids while they're trying to get their attention. I get the impression that as soon as the child learned to walk on their own, that was it. The parent has no interaction with their kids, they just sit and do whatever it is they want to do, and ignore the child's attempts to get their attention, whether it's just to show them something, or to play with them. This is just sad. My daughter will pick some rather inconvenient times to want to play with us, usually during the cooking of dinner. I understand, because she hasn't seen me all day, and cooking usually happens shortly after I get home. Me and my wife will be in the kitchen (after the homecoming hugs and kisses) getting dinner together, and my daughter will ask me to play with her. God bless my wife, she usually takes over whatever it is I'm doing so I can at least get a few minutes in of dinosaurs or ponies. Other times, I may be doing the whole meal myself, and have to tell her that I'll play with her in a little bit, when the dinner doesn't need to be serviced, just listened for. The point is, we love playing with our daughter, we had her so that we could interact with her. Sometimes we don't feel like it, or have something going on, and have to tell her no, but we always respond to it, and make her a return offer of a different time to play. I enjoy playing video games quite a bit, but I don't want to totally lose out on time with her either. Long story short, my daughter is an expert dragon/zombie/goblin/bad guy finder.
7.) NO. This one kinda speaks for itself doesn't it moms and dads? "Punkin, can you eat your dinner please? Then we can have dessert." "No." Even when not yelled, this word is one of the most irritating words I know... and the worst part about it is that I know I helped create it. We've always been pretty open about letting our daughter make choices for herself, so she knew how to make up her mind and think for herself. But that does open up the door for her to apply those rules to ANYTHING SHE IS ASKED! So then, especially in relation to dinner time, it turns into an explanation of why I don't want her to be hungry, or more often than not, the benefit to her for eating some more. I've learned the hard way about making her eat too much, so I won't push her to eat everything on her plate, because she hasn't learned to give us a rating of how hungry she is. So she could very well be full. But I'm no idiot, I know she has room in her stomach for more than just two bites of chicken... haha.
Well this is my list everybody. Just a short one. Believe me, I have way more peeves than this, but these are probably my top peeves. I am not just encouraging you to share on this one, I would actually like to ASK you to share on this one. I think this could be a pretty fun little experiment to see where everyone's peeves collide, so let's see it.
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