Don't Throw Rocks at the Ducks

I am quite sure that I have told the story of my brother and the ducks before. I must have. Because it reminds me so often of my "little boys" and the things they do.

I think that if I ever write a book about my boys the title will HAVE to be "Don't Throw Rocks at the Ducks". In case I haven't told you about it, the incident bears repeating. My brother was about five-years-old at the time and there was a park and lake close to our home that we often went to. My mom must have had some problems with my brother prior to our outing to the park because she listed a series of rules to him before we set out for the park. The park had a giant metal slide perfect for burning your butt on a hot summer's day, a merry-go-round and teeter-totter that we loved to play on. Down close to the bay that came in off the lake Canadian geese often walked along the grass. My mom turned her back for a moment. When she heard the geese honking in distress she turned around only to find my brother throwing rocks at them. Of course she scolded him for the rock throwing but instead of being contrite he responded, "but mom, you didn't say don't throw rocks at the ducks."

That saying, "you didn't say don't throw rocks at the ducks" has been repeated several times over the years in our house growing up and in my house now as a bewildered parent I look at the things my kids do and shake my head in astonishment at the excuses I hear.

Like when one of my boys draws all over his walls after getting in trouble several times for it on prior occasions and then has the nerve to say, "but you didn't tell me not to touch that spot." What??? The instruction "don't draw on your WALLS" implied EVERY SINGLE SPOT.

Or yesterday when another son was in a hurry to get to the basement to clean up in order to play his DS but I interrupted him to get his homework done first. His response, "you NEVER let me clean up my toys!!!" Huh? This is the kid that has a temper tantrum most days when I ask him to clean up his Legos.

I talked with a friend today whose children are grown. I love talking with her because she has a great sense of humor and has survived raising her kids. It gives me hope that I can do the same. Your kids are going to do things and say things that may have you grinding your teeth, biting your tongue or have you reaching for the ibuprofen to kill the stress headache. But fortunately life also provides those moments when they bring home a picture just for you that they drew at school, or they can't go to bed at night without a hug from you. If my kids liked me all the time then I'm not doing my job as a parent. I require them to follow rules and at times that causes unhappy kids. They'll thank me later.

I thanked my parents.

I don't expect that thank you for a really, really, really, long time.

I DO expect that I will have many more moments that will have me shaking my head and saying to myself, "you didn't say don't throw rocks at the ducks."