I never know what's going on

There's a Baby Blues cartoon where one of the kids runs into the room and says something to the dad like, "I'm hiding from Zoe! Pretend you don't know what's going on!"



And the Dad says, "Okay ... I haven't known what's going on around here for years."



I feel that way often.



Yesterday afternoon, Rebecca (age 4) called, "Bye, Mom!" I turned and saw her wearing her purple Princess backpack and pulling her matching purple Princess suitcase behind her and heading out the front porch.



"Umm ... bye!" I said. "Have a good trip!"



About five minutes later, Rebecca was back inside and ran into my room. "Hi, Grandma!" she said, and started pulling stuff out of her backpack and suitcase: toothpaste and toothbrush, hairbrush, clothes. "Where do I put all my stuff, Grandma?" she asked.



A couple hours later I saw both girls head out the back door. Rachael had an armload of stuff, and Rebecca was wearing their fold-up tent over her head like the tent was walking. They asked me if they could bring blackberries and apples outside.



I was informed later that they were having a "Nature Adventure." On a Nature Adventure, you can only eat fruit, cheese, and milk. Rachael also found a walking stick outside that they were using for nature walks.


Right now the girls are sitting on the couch watching Blues Clues. You'd think that'd be easy enough to understand. But now Rachael is telling me that when she sits in the middle of the couch, she is "Chessie," the Cheshire Cat, and when she sits on the end of the couch, she is Alice.

I didn't think to ask who Rebecca is, although she is wearing a Princess costume.

There's a lot to keep track of when you're a parent.

Parenting According to Baby Blues - Boredom

And this one:




I think a lot of parents get too easily annoyed when their kids say they're bored.

Some parents almost get angry: "What?!? How can you say you're bored when you have a roomful of toys?"

We've probably all heard the classic: "You're bored? You'd better find something to do, or I'll find something for you ... like mopping this floor!"

I actually overheard a woman at the park (yes, I guess I was eavesdropping) saying that she tells her kids, "When you say 'I'm bored' what you're really saying is 'I'm boring.'" Well isn't that a sweet way to kick a kid when he's down.

In the first cartoon, I don't think it's at all odd that the kids feel like there's nothing to do around there. Maybe they just want to get out of the house! Maybe they just want an adult's company and attention. Maybe both.

If I were that mom (and in one of my better moods), I would sit down on the floor with them and look at one of those toys with them. Maybe I'd pop in a video they'd never seen before. Maybe we'd bake something together. If I had a lot of energy and the baby was awake, maybe I'd take them driving somewhere. A different park. A different grocery store. The dollar store. Whatever.

If I were the mom in the second strip (and in one of my better moods) I would assume that my child wanted more of my company. I'd probably stop cleaning (which isn't hard for me anyway!) and read to them. Or see if they want to do a puzzle. Or anything.

At the very least, I'd ask them to talk with me about something special to them while I continued my housework.

Rachael has started making my bed with me almost every morning. She often initiates it herself. This morning she walked over to the bed, smiled sweetly at me, and said, "Let's do our chore!" She's very meticulous about getting her side of the bed nice and smooth.

This woman says it better than I do:

http://sandradodd.com/BoredNoMore

Parenting According to Baby Blues

Yup. I've always really liked comic strip books.

Some of my earliest memories were buying cheap paperback Peanuts books at the book fair in my elementary school in New Jersey.

In college, I often spent Saturday nights alone in my dorm room with a package of cookies and a Cathy book. (Yes, I know, how sad is that?)

Big big fan of Bloom County when I was teenager. Calvin and Hobbes. Early Dilbert! More recently, Baby Blues.

Well about an hour ago I suddenly had an interesting idea ...

Back in the 60's a minister named Robert L. Short traveled around doing seminars of Bible lessons using Peanuts strips as the basis. He is Very Cool. He also wrote at least two books:

The Gospel According to Peanuts
http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-According-Peanuts/dp/0664222226/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-4314719-3811812?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188758949&sr=1-2

The Parables of Peanuts
http://www.amazon.com/Parables-Peanuts-Robert-L-Short/dp/0060011610/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4314719-3811812?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188759005&sr=1-1

Well.

It ocurred to me that, often when I read Baby Blues, I'll actually analyze it and think, "See, the parents should have done this differently ..." or "That's not the right attitude, because ..."

So later this week I am going to try a little column here called "Parenting According to Baby Blues," where I post a strip and then make a Deep (or not-so-deep) point about it.

Stay tuned ...