I had another reminder recently of just how stressful it is to be a parent and how the title “parent” really ought to be changed to “permanent guilt trip.”
The kids and I headed over to a local park for a play date with one of Ginger’s friends. As the kids played, the other child’s mom and I were discussing the kids in general and as an airplane flew overhead and my kids went nuts over it, I casually commented that some of their current obsessions include airplanes and helicopters, as well as the moon.
Other Mom then said that her daughter asked her earlier that day if the moon was a planet.
Um, what?
This child understands the concept of planets enough to make the connection that the moon might be one? And here I thought my kids were somewhat intelligent. I guess it’s time to start looking into some “alternative” classes for Ginger given that I’ve never considered discussing the concept of planets with her.
Seriously, though, this is the brutal part of parenting. Surely there are ideas or concepts that Ginger gets that her little friend, who is only one day younger, doesn’t get… I hope. It doesn’t help that her mother told me recently that they sometimes pass the time by singing songs in English, French, Spanish, AND sign language. Meanwhile, I’ve spent three years trying to teach Ginger some French and we’re still stuck on “bonjour.”
It’s easy to think that your child is a genius whenever they make some new connection, and it’s certainly fun to think that your child is ahead of the curve on something, anything. But then things like this happen to bring you right back down to earth. And really, does it matter that Ginger doesn’t understand the concept of a planet yet? She is three!
This is what I loathe about parenting these days. Pick up any book or read any news article, and it’s all about the hyper-competitive nature of Gen X and Gen Y parents who will do anything to get their kids ahead of the curve. I see this at our play groups. One three-year-old goes to a Spanish immersion class and now knows more Spanish that I ever learned from my year of study in the 7th grade. Another 3-year-old is obsessed with horses and apparently knows all about different breeds, how to care for them, the best diet, etc..
Meanwhile, I read to my kids, speak to them using adult words, and encourage as much creative play as possible, hoping that somehow this all creates some fertile ground for a intelligent adults. I’m certainly not using flash cards or quizzing them on the fifty states or taking them to piano lessons… yet.
Parenting really can be madness and I struggle regularly with keeping my head about myself as to how we are doing as parents. Finding out that Other Child is a genius really doesn’t help my cause.
