There’s an old joke about raising kids that goes like this.
When your first child eats dirt, you rush them to the Emergency Room.
When the second child eats dirt, you wash out their mouth.
When the third child eats dirt, you consider it dinner.
This amusing, yet perfectly adept illustration of child rearing is more illustrative of how our children train us, rather than the other way around.
This is the tough love part, watching as they try to apply the best of modern theory to a process that has been self-regulating since the first humans emerged on this planet.
My bet is on history.
Author
And so it is with my daughter, Kelsey, my son-in-law, Chuck, and their first child, Levi. While they were well prepared for the birth, they have bridled a bit at learning the lessons Levi is teaching them. They went into the process, as we all do, armed with the latest info on how to get your child on a schedule, how to regulate their feeding, and how to condition them to a sleep schedule.
What they haven’t yet realized, as all new parents are wont to do, is the child quickly takes charge and becomes the teacher.
It has been amusing to watch. Our natural reaction is to help, to tell them to trust themselves, ignore almost everyone (except Dr. Spock, of course), and ignore anything any would-be child raising expert offers as advice, particularly in the age of Google..
But we all have to learn this lesson by living it.
This is the tough love part, watching as they try to apply the best of modern theory to a process that has been self-regulating since the first humans emerged on this planet.
My bet is on history.
The amusing part is seeing how, moment by moment, step by step, little by little, Levi, without the benefit of spoken language or the written word, is gradually breaking them down to mold them into his trained and properly functioning parents.
Everyone told me being a grandparent would be the greatest of experiences, I just never expected it would give me a front row see to watch two educated, mature, intelligent humans being manipulated by mere murmurs, sighs, crying, and smiles into doing the bidding of a human being barely one month old.
It brings back memories of how Kelsey, at just about the same age, disabused us of our misconceptions and turned us into her concept of a parent. It is the way of the world.
I always knew they’d be great parents. And, with Levi’s patient yet persistent training, they are well on the way. It is the greatest show on earth.
************************************************************************
Spring Reading Sale. All my Kindle books $0.99! Download a copy today http://amzn.to/2cyabM9
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
Signup here for our mailing list for information on all upcoming releases, book signings, and media appearances.