LJI Home Game Entry - Week 19 - Future Shock

[alycewilson]

This is my home-game entry for The Real LJ Idol. I am not competing this season but invite you to read the many fine submissions and the home-game entries. Topic number 19 is an open topic, which means we can write about anything.

Comments

[theafaye]

It's interesting watching your children be like you and yet be themselves at the same time. We had major squees the other day because our oldest daughter asked to watch "Doctor Ooo" and now reckons it's her favourite programme ever. She loves anything fantasy based and "Prince Caspian" was her favourite film (she saw it for her fourth birthday and sat through all two hours without a toilet break even though she needed to go). Our son reckons "Percy Jackson" is the best film on the other hand, which also faces parental approval.

It's actually quite difficult to mould them into anything. I mean, you can take your child to dance classes and that's not abusive but if they don't like it, they don't like it. And the one thing having oodles of children has taught me is that you get the child you're given and whoever that is is someone wonderful and awesome regardless of whether you have anything in common or not. I think you can do an awful lot in those early years to build a close friendship that will last a lifetime, however, and if you have that, anything else is gravy.

You guys are going to be amazing parents.

[alycewilson]

The comment about "molding him" to be like us was tongue-in-cheek, of course. There is a good chance, though, that growing up with us and being exposed to things we like will have an influence. I know that I discovered Monty Python and the Beatles because of my parents. But I also believe in letting a kid be the kid he's meant to be. Let him explore lots of activities and find the ones he likes!

[theafaye]

I semi alluded to this in my Idol entry this week. There are some things that rub off on us as a consequence of our parents and sometimes we don't even realise it's happening. At the same time, I look at my brother and I and we're such different people despite having the same parents (I've got more in common with one of my brothers from a different mother). I'm sure if I knew him better, he'd also have echoes from his upbringing but they're very different to mine.

I was saying to my husband last night that it would be impossible for us to have a child who is "normal". Even if they're neuro-typical, it really would be impossible for us to have a child that didn't have their quirks, particularly because quirks are welcomed here and different is not an issue in our house. I've been thinking for a long time that we can't put something into a child that isn't there, all we can do is nurture the parts we want to see grow and hope for the best. So far it seems to be working out, but we're a long way off the teen years!

[alycewilson]

Sounds like you and I have very similar ideas about parenting. Again, I credit my parents, who always let us try things we wanted to try and were open-minded about our likes and dislikes. In fact, I think that over the years, I've taught them as much about the arts as I learned from them. They're both eager to learn.

The more I hear about your family, the more I think it sounds similar to the way we want to raise our boy.