Parenting 101

I do not claim to be a parenting expert. My oldest child is 3 1/2, so I've been doing the mom thing for about that long. I wouldn't qualify myself as overly, or perhaps "stereotypically" would be a better term, maternal. I hate to bake, so freshly baked cookies are not on my radar. If my kids' hair looks goofy, sticking up in all directions, I'm ok with it. In fact, I sort of prefer it. I don't sew my kids' clothes, nor do I come up with elaborate hairstyles for them on a daily basis.

While I might not do certain things as far as the kids are concerned, there are lots of other things I do, on a daily basis. And you know what? Not all of those things are fun. And I don't like to do a lot of those things. But I do do them and do you know why? It's the parenting style I like to call:

Suck it up.

I had 2 instances this week where I wanted to tell another parent to suck it up. And both instances really irked me, so I figured, let's look at the topic.

Instance #1:

A mom noticed a wood tick in her son's hair. She freaked out. And rather than remove the tick, she made a teacher do it. Because she doesn't like ticks.

Well, I also hate wood ticks. They creep me out. They're disgusting. But if I see one crawling around my kid's head, guess what I'm gonna do? Suck it up and get rid of it. Because that's my job.

Instance #2:

A mom had to take her kid in for his well check, which included shots. Only she doesn't like shots, so she made her friend take the kid in for the shots.

Well, let me tell you. Nobody likes shots. And if they do, that's a whole other topic, most likely inappropriate for a "mom blog". Shots hurt. They make kids cry. Nobody likes to see their kids cry. But, if you do the vaccination thing, and I do, then you know what happens? I suck it up. You know why? Because I'm a mom and that's my job.

Now, like I said. I'm not a parenting professional. But if you're going to have kids, then there are parts of the job you aren't going to like. It's not all cuddles and giggles. And it's not supposed to be. No job is all rainbows, monster paychecks and lunches out. If you're going to take a job, you take all of the job, not just the fun parts.

You don't like poopy diapers? Well, neither does your kid. Suck it up.

You don't like giving your kid medicine? Well, s/he doesn't like taking it. Suck it up.

You don't like giving your kid a bath? Well, s/he doesn't want to be the smelly kid. Suck it up.

You don't like making dinner every night? Well, your kid probably doesn't like eating it every night. Both of you...suck it up.

You have to do the not-so-fun stuff people. You don't like it. Your kid doesn't like it. But if your kid knows you'll be there and take care of it, you're providing a sense of security and balance that your kid both needs and deserves. And isn't that what parenting is really all about?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised my kids we'd bake cookies today.