2 posts tagged “kids”

View other items tagged “kids:” Photos, Audio, Videos, Books or Links. View “kids” on Vox.

A Child's Prerogative

Mar 28, 2008

It's funny how we, as parents, tend to not only try to control our own lives, but also the lives of our children. Usually, this common mistake becomes apparent in the later stages of your child's life. Yes, we know those stages well..."The Teenage Years."

We tend to forget that our children have an agenda of their own. Even at the age of, lets say three, our children tend to voice their likes and dislikes.

But nothing could have prepared me for what my four year old and three year old daughters had in store for me.

One day, upon looking out the window and seeing that it was such a beautiful and cloudless day, I thought to myself, what a relief from all that rain we'd been getting these past few weeks. So, having the best intentions in mind, I decided to "order" my children to play outside and have fun. "Hey, you two! It's sunny outside. Do you want to go play outside? Go play outside!"

Well, suffice it to say that when I didn't get the assumed reaction that I had in my mind, I became confused and repeated myself, ordering them once again to play outside, it would be fun.

When my children remained where they were standing, I found myself becoming really upset and opened my mouth to commence sentencing the death penalty, but stopped because curiosity got the better of me.

I took a steadying breath.

"Okay. Mommy wants to know why you two aren't listening when I told you to go play outside. It's nice and sunny, you two should go outside and enjoy the nice weather we're having. So tell mommy why you're not playing outside?"

Both of my daughters looked at me, then at each other, then quickly back at me again.

Finally, what felt like eons later (when you are feeling your blood pressure skyrocket, father time seems to warp the clock up for you), my five year old answered, her eyes tearing up and her voice shaking, four words that just went straight to my heart.

"We don't want to."

Yeah... talk about retardation at the mercy of a five year old.

With those four words, my daughters succeeded in teaching me a very important lesson.

No matter the age or the situation...

a child has prerogatives. Respecting them is ours.

~Mercy~

Intro the Keikis ("children" in hawaiian)

Mar 27, 2008
1 comment

Hello all! I just joined the group and would like to start off by introducing myself, Mercy Luis. I'm part of the "working moms" out there. I am 24 yrs old and currently my family and I reside in Hawaii.

My husband and I have three beautiful little girls that I would like to introduce:

Kyra ~ 5 yrs old

Mommy's BIG helper. In my heart, she is "substitute-mommy." Kyra is very independent for her age and attending school. She enjoys it and is known to be teacher's pet because she loves to help. She has always been a thoughtful child and very sensitive to other's emotions. When I cry and try to hide it from her, she has this ability within her that she can "feel" what I'm feeling without having to see it. She just knows.

Kiley ~ 3 yrs old

Very dependent on her older sister, yet in many ways she is very much attached to me (I believe it has a lot to do with the whole breastfeeding thing). Kiley was always a happy child. As a baby, she would smile and babble to strangers. To the point where I got scared that she would continue that habit in her later years. She hasn't so that's good.

Dilana ~ 5 months

Very, very needy for attention (very appropriate for her age). Next to loving her family, Dilana loves her thumb and blanket. She can self-soothe really well, but is starting to depend on having mommy and daddy pick-me-ups on her agenda lately. Unnerving, but who can explain that to a baby?! hehe.

My children give me headaches...but they go hand-in-hand with the joy and insight they give me..

Without them, I don't know who I am.

Well, these three are the heart of our family! Hope to share more in the near future with you all.

~Mercy~