If you’re considering having children someday, don’t expect everything to be hunky-dory and self-explanatory. I’ve got three of them – two daughters, aged eight and four, and a one-year-old son. Not a single day since Abigail arrived eight years ago has been “normal”. And often-times, little makes sense during a day of parenting.
Each one of our kids has a way of their own, and each one comes with a barrel full of quirks and personality. I’ve often recounted a story or two when hanging out with friends and family, but I thought I’d list a few more of them as a public service and as a warning.
Dressing Up
This isn’t that uncommon. Kids like to dress up. They like to dress their dolls and teddies up. It’s part of the imagination process. Abigail even dressed up Tango, our Staffordshire Bull Terrier, years ago. Even with boots on, he never complained. It’s not so much the wanting to dress up that throws me off, it’s more the incredible capacity to make a mess of it. Amalie is particularly gifted in this department. She will, without exaggerating, dress up 15 times in a day, and each time the full complement of clothing remains where she took it off. We will find a dozen outfits strewn about the house. When asked to clean, she dutifully does so. After a couple of days, we’d always notice that Amalie’s closet has become a barren wasteland, devoid of any clothing. We realized that, instead of putting clothes back on the hangers, she would pick them up when asked to and stuff them in the toy bins. Nice.
An alternative to dressing up is the not dressing at all. Both our girls were very happy nudists. Abigail has grown out of it, but Amalie would very gladly walk around without anything on – every single day of the year. Even when we would finally convince them to PLEASE PUT SOMETHING ON, we’d be treated to some of the most bizarre combinations. On top of that, they can’t be convinced that what they’re wearing isn’t a good idea. And this isn’t just around the house. Nope. Sometimes, it’s best to just let it go. It’s not a hill worth dying on.
Tom Sedens is the husband to his dream girl, the co-founder of 3 kids that make his world go round, blogger at wildsau.ca, and a grateful soul for a life full of blessings.
