Our Family's a Zoo, Wii Fun
Last night while Casey was in youth group, the church had a parent info session called Navigating The Middle School Years. It was pretty interesting and the lady who ran it (certified mental health counselor) seemed to really know what she was talking about. You can't get much out of an hour though. She is giving a free 6 week course on parenting teens, but I'm not going to do that. Casey is a good girl, and I have very little trouble with her. It's possible that will change in a couple of years, so hopefully she'll offer it again. The main idea of last night's session was that their behavior is very normal... they are supposed to start pushing us away now because it's the only way they can grow up, and the best thing for us to do is keep communication open and try to involve them in some of the decision making in the household. It was kind of a sad turn out.... there are hundreds of kids in the middle school youth group program, and 13 parents stuck around for it. Oh well. I definitely felt like the most liberal of all the parents that were there. Or at least those that spoke. They were all "I don't understand this texting thing" and I was thinking "I text WITH my kid" and then one mom said she couldn't get her daughter to make her bed, and I wanted to say that I don't even make my own bed.
Casey and I were discussing it on the way home and she said it was funny how different dinner time was at our house compared to some of her friends. At Brianna's house they all sit quietly at the table and have light conversation and a full course meal. At our house, she usually sits at the computer desk while I eat at our small table and we watch TV or listen to music. She said she likes it better our way, and that Brianna said she wishes her family was more like that. But then she said "My family is a zoo!!!". I guess she meant that as a good thing? I said "It's not a zoo. It's just not as structured as some other families. And I don't feel like it has to be. There are only two of us. We are automatically spending quality time together all the time because there's nobody else to get in the way of that. We are able to be more laid back because of our small family." I like it this way. And since she's a happy, healthy, active, mostly straight A student, I think it works.
Today at work we are having a Wii party. My boss is getting sandwiches from Publix, his wife made us a cake, and we're going to hook some Wiis up to some big TVs and play for a while. I brought my remote so I could use my Mii (which is named Mom, LOL). It's going to be a pretty awesome lunch hour.
Casey and I were discussing it on the way home and she said it was funny how different dinner time was at our house compared to some of her friends. At Brianna's house they all sit quietly at the table and have light conversation and a full course meal. At our house, she usually sits at the computer desk while I eat at our small table and we watch TV or listen to music. She said she likes it better our way, and that Brianna said she wishes her family was more like that. But then she said "My family is a zoo!!!". I guess she meant that as a good thing? I said "It's not a zoo. It's just not as structured as some other families. And I don't feel like it has to be. There are only two of us. We are automatically spending quality time together all the time because there's nobody else to get in the way of that. We are able to be more laid back because of our small family." I like it this way. And since she's a happy, healthy, active, mostly straight A student, I think it works.
Today at work we are having a Wii party. My boss is getting sandwiches from Publix, his wife made us a cake, and we're going to hook some Wiis up to some big TVs and play for a while. I brought my remote so I could use my Mii (which is named Mom, LOL). It's going to be a pretty awesome lunch hour.