“I Can’t Believe My Ears!”

In my childhood that’s what I would hear an adult say to their child regarding the child’s hair-brained vocalizations.

Now that I’m a parent, I’m much more dumbfounded by what I hear coming out of my own mouth! For example, the name of this blog came out of an interchange between me and my daughter in which I said:

For the life of me I can’t remember why she was slapping the scissors I held in my hand. Nor do I fully comprehend why it was necessary for me to suggest that slapping scissors might not be the safest activity. One thing is for sure, though–I obviously was concerned that the slapping-of-scissors would continue without me offering my solid fatherly advice!

Regrets and Advice

I have a number of regrets about my parenting during the toddler years. One is that I was too uptight to fully enjoy that time in our family’s life. Another is that I couldn’t find the the energy or time to write down the singular statements that came out of my mouth during those times! There were a number of occasions where I literally said out loud, “I can’t believe I said that!”

If you are a young parent I would encourage you to commit your pearls of wisdom to writing and then publish a book. It will make great reading for the young parents that follow in your footsteps and may bring in enough money to buy shoes for your kiddos.

Two for the Road

Here are a couple of beauties that I recall saying to my son (when he was much younger). Enjoy!