Say What Now?

As a parent, I often find myself saying things that I can vividly remember my parents saying to me.  The big difference is that now, I'm usually thinking to myself, "Ha ha! Who's the parent now?!".  Even though my parenting script can often sound like a rerun of years ago, there are times when my children coerce an original script out of me.  There have been times when I've had to shake my head in disbelief that the words that came out of my mouth actually had to be grouped together in that combination in order for my child to get the message.

If you were to come to the house a few years ago, you might have been privy to the time when I had to say, "Cara. Get that guitar out of your mouth."

More recently, I actually had to tell my daughter, "Do not take your shoes off at a restaurant."

In case you were wondering, there is never an acceptable answer to the question "Why is there chewing gum wrapped around your neck?"

But even through all of the "did I really just have to say that to my child" moments, I do think that my favorite was when I had to tell my son,  "Connor. Use your hands to push that, not the Force."