School holidays. Still trying to decide if I like them or not.
On the one hand I’m busy “making memories” which is apparently now an official parenting duty, alongside keeping them alive, loving them, providing for them, cleaning up after them and teaching them right from wrong.
Now we also need to make every moment of their lives a magical fucking fairyland party complete with Ferris wheel and instagrammable outfits. No sweat.
I heard a podcast the other day where someone said he approaches parenthood with the philosophy that every moment is a memory and when he’s on his deathbed he doesn’t want to be thinking about all the times he was scrolling Instagram, he wants to remember spending time with his kids.
Of course he’s right! I need to be making more memories with my beloved children! Time is fleeting! Cherish every moment!
Except fucking hell, that’s a tall order. After five solid weeks of “memory making” I’m not sure it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
Don’t kids need to chill now and then? If every moment is magical, how will they ever appreciate anything? They’ll expect Disneyland every day and they’ll become immune to joy. Don’t they need to experience desperate, zombifying boredom so they’ll value the moments of fun?
My mum used to put us out the back and lock the door so she could “mop the floor” which looked a lot like “have a cup of tea in peace”. Oh I have such special memories… of us standing at the door begging to be let back in but, I’m not sad about it. We found ways to have fun that didn’t involve our mum hovering over us every second.
Of course, then I do think about how fast time is going and I don’t want to be wasting these precious days with them… but also, aren’t I allowed to phone it in sometimes? I feel death bed Lauren would forgive me.
Making memories is wonderful. It’s also exhausting. I make all the effort and we have a great time until inevitably they start to whine and I start to threaten them with going home because they’re not acting grateful enough. Because nothing says “magical memories” like threats.
So yeah, um, yay for holidays but also, good grief I’m tired of being fun,
#schoolholidays #aretheydoneyet?
