So in the process of raising a munchkin, I have come to realize how much things have changed and continues to change from when I was a child and even when my parents were younger. I'm sure there will be even more change when the munchkin is an older munchkin and produces his own munchkin (many years into the future...) Here are a few "changes" I have noticed from my point of view:
Discipline:
My parents: spankings and chores
Me: spankings and chores and grounding
Munchkin: time outs and occasional spankings.
Now is it me or is society going soft? Not that I am condoning child abuse but sometimes a good swat on the bottom is just what Munchkin needs to get back in line. He does the time out ok sometimes but others he just gets down and goes back to misbehaving. I can recall parents telling me stories of their childhood and still know where the yardsticks are used to punish my parents. (it was the 60s...a lot worse things were going on than spanking kids with yardsticks...) Hopefully the Munchkin won't punish the kids with timeouts and candy but time will tell.
Playing outside
My parents: Stay in the county and out of the roads. Home by supper and if you have any hungry friends there is enough food to feed an army here.
Me: Stay withing yelling distance and out of the roads. Home before the street lights come on and if you have any hungry friends bring them over. Plenty of food.
Munchkin: Stay in the yard, don't talk to strangers. Period. If you have friends, ask their mom's permission and we will coordinate it on our Blackberry/iPhone/facebook.
Now not that we do all that but again, this is how much society has changed in just a few short years. We keep Munchkin contained to the yard (mostly due to crazy neighbors but we hope to be remedying this situation soon) and the mostly normal people who live near us have no kids his age. Kids are so busy nowadays with scheduled sports & activities that its hard to find time to just play and be a kid (one reason why Munchkin hasn't participated in organized sports yet). I can remember spending days on end in the summer just playing with my friends and not once did Sam have to say "oh i can only play an hour becuase I have tee ball then piano lessons then home for lunch then off to dance and finish the afternoon at soccer practice and then home for dinner and bedtime." NO THANKS! Not only is it a lot for a child but for the parents as well. We are of the "When he asks to play, he can play" mentality. Go ahead, frown upon us. We will be the happy people watching all you other whack jobs run around til you are dead tired and can't enjoy a quiet evening at home :-) One point for us!
Where babies come from:
My parents: The stork.
Me: Mommy's belly. End of explination.
Munchkin: Mommy and Daddy make the baby and it grows in mommy's belly then after the baby is big enough it comes out of mommy to be born.
Now the munchkin has only asked one or two times about where babies come from and the "Mommy's belly" answer seems to do it justice. I'm sure since he is in the question everything phase that the more detailed explanation will be needed in no time at all. But I have no problem explaining it to him. Some parents may gasp (pause for gasping) at this but my child will not be all shock and awe when it comes time for that in school. I'm the type of parent where you ask me a question and I will do everything in my power to answer it truthfully. (hence the reason for owning this book and this book...oh and for google.) And since we are talking Munchkin #2, we have even asked him his opinion. His answer: I want a baby sister. Nice to know he thinks you can just call in that order...
The world around us:
My parents: the 60s and 70s...enough said!
Me: AIDS & the Ryan White story, The Challenger Explosion, weirdos coming out of the woodwork and taking kids.
Munchkin: a lot of the same but now violence is in everything & everywhere. There are a lot more "tree hugging hippies" again trying to save the world due to all the hairspray use in the 80s. (none from me!)
DB is an avid gamer so he does tend to play the violent shoot 'em up games but only when Munchkin is in bed sound asleep dreaming of cars and mud and whatever little boys dream of. But violence is all over. Especially with the 9/11 anniversary approaching it's in the news and all over talking about that day and events leading up to it and remembering the lives lost and on and on and on... I am considering taking Munchkin to the local library for their "rememberance" since it seems kind of lo-key and would be easy to kind of ease him into the day. I plan on telling him about it (not in gory detail) and explaining the people and if I can why they did it. He's only 4 but again, if he asks I'll talk about it. This will be a part of his life whether he realizes it or not. On a brighter note, he's a great little tree hugger in training and appreciates nature (minus the stomping of the ants...not really sure where this came from) and knows what it means to recycle and how it helps the planet. So there is hope for our future after all!
Family:
My parents: Family dinner every night. Get together for all holidays (even the small ones) and birthdays. Appreciate those in your life and love them unconditionally. No matter what (even through the stupidity and urge to smack them upside their head until the get it)
Me: Family dinner every night. Get together for all holidays (even the small ones) and birthdays. Appreciate those in your life and love them unconditionally. No matter what (even through the stupidity and urge to smack them upsdie their head until they get it)
Munchkin: Ditto...
Notice a pattern? In the Munchkin's time he's been here (the past two years especially) we've lost some people who were very close to us. This leads us to appreciate our time with loved ones even more. And to learn to love and understand (and try...really try....really..try...not to beat them senseless.) We have some interesting people in the family who have their issues but we still love them and always will. Why? Because they are family and we have to....and because of love.
So that's a few things that I have noticed in society that has changed through the years. I'm not sure if some of these are for better or worse but I guess we will have to take it a day ay a time and hope for the best.
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