Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Some Days, Life is Just a Draw

Dear Parenting Enthusiasts,


As you've already gathered, my whole objective with this blog, and in life, is to achieve win-win solutions, as a parent, as a fellow human on this planet. It's a lofty goal some days, and on those days, it's best just to call it a draw. Let me explain.


Last Friday night, the family plan was to ride the chair lift at the local ski resort to enjoy the fall colors from above. It's a once-a-year event, replete with musicians, food, educational areas and glow sticks. We've gone every year since I learned of this awesome event's existence. Well, earlier that day, M1 was up AGAIN at the crack of spanking dawn, so I made him walk the dog with me. We wore reflective vests, so that made it more compelling. We skipped and jumped and ran. I later learned that M1 did not nap at daycare- he never does, nor did he fall asleep in the car on the way to the ski slope, which he often does. NOT GOOD.


Things were going fine until M1 fell and hit his hip on one of the rocks on the fire trails. Then, it was a fast descent into madness from which there was no recovery. Remember my earlier observations about food and rest? Well, he had food but no rest. The kid was exhausted. Both Dad and I took turns trying to turn the ship around. We had a variety of techniques at our disposal.   We used everything in the S.O.S. toolkit and then some. It was no use. He was not coming back and that was the hard luck truth. The only thing left to do was leave. Which we did. It was a loud, long, sad retreat. It was fraught with drama and punctuated with wails and screams. We soldiered on, eyes forward, shoulders squared. There was one point, when Dad had to stop for a moment, that there was quiet. M1 had recovered some of his senses and was speaking coherently, a moment I treasured. We managed to get to the car without incident. I fully expected him to fall asleep on the 40 minute ride home, and yet he didn't. At least he was no longer crying. Just not sleeping. We ran through the bedtime routine and sent him off to dream land. At least THAT went well. And he slept until 7 Saturday morning. So there was no lasting effect.


As Kenny Rogers once crooned, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em". That much is true with kids too. That Friday night, we folded. It was the right thing to do, because some days, life is just a draw.


And that's OK. Happy Parenting!

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