Parents. You bother me.

You know what REALLY bothers me?

Parents.

For a few reasons. (I mean there are more then this, but currently, these are my Parent Pet Peeves)

1) Your kid is sick. Keep that child at home. Yes, you do have to use one of YOUR sick days, but guess what? Your child is nearly 3, has no social skills, and hasn't learned to blow their nose, or cover their mouth. They are going to spread their snot germs to, not only all the other children in the centre, but all the staff as well. KEEP. THEM. HOME.

2) Your child (children) is (are) in Daycare 10 to 12 hours a day. Um, why did you have a child (children)? Just wondering, since you know... you never see them. And FYI, they're behaviour is appalling because when you DO see them, you spoil them to make up for the time you SHOULD be, but aren't, spending with them. Congrats for adding to the futures bullies, druggies, spoiled princesses, and teen parents! WOO! Be SO proud!!

3) Yes, your 1 year old is crying when you drop them off, and they've never done that before! ...it's called "separation anxiety" and you looking all worried, and going "Oh it's okay baby it's okay" is NOT going to make it better. Leaving will make it better. Why? Because they DO know you'll be back, they just don't want you to leave. But guess what? 9 times out of 10, within 5 minutes they'll be fine, happy and playing. Sure you get a few kids who scream all day, but in all my years of working with kids, I've only met ONE who was like that for no reason (she was 3 and did it... the others who did it were refugees from camps in other countries who didn't speak english and were being left with strangely coloured people in a strange place - who could really blame them!?)

I'll admit my faith in today's parents, and their "parenting skills" diminishes with each new child I work with. Kids don't do things with their families anymore. They watch TV, or start surfing the internet at 3 (and have their own computer by 6)... they're put in all kinds of organized activities 5 days a week (after school when they should be at home, doing their homework, playing outside with friends, and eating a family meal). Parents work 60 hour work weeks, and live FAR beyond their means - when if they'd cut back on the "stuff" and "activities", they could probably quite happily live on 1 income (or 1.5 if whoever's at home wants a part time job), and then the children could ALWAYS have a parent at home with them.

But that's not how people think anymore. It's all about "Keeping up with the Jones's", or maybe it's better to say "Keeping up with your coworkers"... or "Keeping up with the kids at school". Children are taught from the time they are born that they are only important enough on certain days of the year to get gifts, and that those gifts have to be HUGE and EXPENSIVE and BETTER then ANYTHING ANYONE else could have POSSIBLY gotten on that same day.

And it upsets me, disgusts me and makes me sad.

Shouldn't our children know they're always important? And special? Without being THEE best at everything? Parents over compensate with praise, for the time they're not spending with their children.

I often wonder how many parents actually KNOW their kids anymore? Do you know what your child actually likes? Or does their Child Care provider have to tell you? Are their first steps in a Daycare? Their first words? First solid food? All potty training?

Parents are missing out on the good things, and only seeing the horrid behaviour because they don't know how to deal with their own children... and when the children get older, instead of spending MORE time with them, they buy them things.

I think even sadder is the fact that I've seen proof of the same sorts of things in households where there IS a parent home all day. Parent's have forgotten to put their children first.

Soon every house will have a nanny raising the kids, while the parents do... whatever.

Oh society, I'm losing faith in you by the minute.

My mother

This seems like a highly typical thing to talk about, one's mother, but I have due cause to do so.

I love my mother. I don't think she could do anything that would ever make me not love her. But like all mother's (or parents in general) she has her flaws.

To put it simply, had Facebook existed when I was born, I would have been one of those children who drowned in the bathtub, or choked on their food, because their mother was too busy playing Farmville to pay the correct amount of attention to their child during those activities.

My mother has the bad habit of starting something, but never finishing it.

Some examples are:
1) She will wash dishes, but not put any of the clean dishes away.
2) She'll do laundry, but not hang it out to dry - or she'll hang it to dry, but not take it off the line.
3) She'll make/eat supper but not do any of the dishes.
4) She'll start a project and then find an excuse to not finish the project.
5) She'll take the sheets from her bed to wash, and not put any fresh on her bed - for weeks.

From that list you can see what I'm getting at.

Now I live with my mother for financial considerations. Between the two of us we make less then the take home pay of the mom of one of the little girls I watch.

I had a sweet 2 bedroom basement suite in Regina, Sask, Canada (where I lived before I was forced to move to Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask, Canada to live back at my mother's house). I paid $600 a month in rent, with all my utilities included. The issue was I rented from my boss, and my boss was, in a word, a dick-tator... She had the bad habit of saying something, and the next day denying she had said it.

I decided to quit my job, and move. I could have found any number of Child Care jobs in Regina, but finding a rental for under $1000 a month (a.k.a. over half my pay cheque) where I could have my ferrets (because I have 2) was literally impossible. So out to mother's I moved.

And I can quite honestly say it is like living with a teenager.

I have to ask for assistance with household chores: cleaning, laundry, dishes, cooking... don't even get me started on outside chores (mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, etc).

Basically if I want something done, I have to do it myself. Which gets very tiring. I work a 10 hour work day watching three children 5 days a week (yes, I work a 50 hour week and make $1,500 a month.. WOO! *headdesk*), needless to say I'm very tired by the end of the day, and the last thing I want to do is go downstairs and do ANOTHER load of laundry, and then hang it on the line to dry (our drier is buggered at the moment, and trying to get her to call someone to fix it, well let's just say I've given up, and will figure out how to do it myself!).

I do feel guilty at times that I don't make more money to help her out more, but even when I was living on my own and working I was helping her financially - we set up a bank account we could both transfer into for that very purpose.

So while my mother acts like a teenager, who chews ice on a regular basis, and snaps their gum and takes 30 minutes to answer a call for assistance, I do love her, and will for the foreseeable future be living with her.

Hell, we're even in the midst of planning a move to Las Vegas.