Friday, April 14, 2006

I know, I get it.

I get it. I know. She wants to be involved. I want her to be involved. I know the move put her now seven hours from her grandkids. But this is killing me.

Every holiday the kids receive a box in the mail. A box of goodies, candy, toys, maybe even a movie. I'm not against that. Really. I'm not. I've come to accept that every box will have a ton of candy, toys, etc. Accept is the word.

But this time it just hit me wrong.

In the Easter Box was - dare I even say it - an Easter egg coloring kit.

I realize it really isn't that big of a deal. Right? A $1.99 box of Paas no vinegar needed egg coloring kit. The only issue is I had other plans for coloring eggs. Something in Family Fun I read about - dribbling vinegar then dropping food coloring and swirling the eggs around. Sounds good and messy, right?

I just feel my toes are a little flattened. Something about how you can't relive your kids childhood through my kids. I don't mean it that way, I just mean - let me do the "parent things." I do enough of the day-to-day hardass, that occasionally I'd like to have some of the special occasion fun. Let me do Santa stockings, let me pick out picture outfits, let me do the Easter eggs, let me have a little of the fun.

All this angst over eggs. Ugh.

3 comments:

Builder Mama said...

That would totally hit me the wrong way too. My MIL, annoying as she is, tries really hard to be sweet and thoughtful - and in the end it ends up irritating me because she'll buy Monkey Man things that I want to get for him.

It's hard enough having to be, as you said, the hardass - without having someone that MM barely sees being the hero on every holiday. Blech. His first Christmas she got pissed because I wouldn't put him in the outfit that SHE chose, so I had the very unpleasant task of reminding her that I'm the mom and I get to choose the big stuff.

I don't mean to sound like an ungrateful beeyotch, but I do understand how sometimes stuff like that seems to undermine the good parts of parenthood, if that makes any sense.

Anonymous said...

That would bug me, too. YOU'RE the Mom...not her. She had her turn. A box full of candy and plastic Easter eggs would have been enough.

Tree said...

Like Liz said, oh, yeah, I feel your pain. Not quite as bad, but there are certain things I want to do with my child and that I look forward to doing with him, so please do not take that away from me.

Teresa