Rock me, sock me!

My daughter is 3 years old and she listens to her big brothers talk all the time. The oldest is always hearing things at school and comes home and repeats them - sometimes not the best thing to be saying! But one phrase he heard at cubscout camp and brought home with him was, "We will, we will, Rock you, Sock you, Pick you up and drop you." Well, my daughter thought this was great. So she started saying, "We will, we will rock you, sock you, pick you up and put you down!" At first we thought it was just so cute and now we don't have the heart to tell her the real words because it's just so adorable.

When I was single, and I was till I was almost 30 years old, I never really "got" parents. They always were doing things "for their kids". I guess I just was annoyed with them because it was never about ME, it was always about some little kid who took priority. Well, my oldest child is now 8 and I completely "get" parenthood now... or so I THINK. It IS all about the kids. We are raising the next generation and that is an awesome responsibility. We need to do it right.

I had an appointment a couple weeks ago that I had to cancel when my daughter was sick with a 104 degree temperature and I couldn't have someone sit for her - even my mother - because then they would end up getting sick. Plus, kids just want their moms when they don't feel good. So I cancelled my appointment. This person understood I thought. Oh, this person doesn't have kids... next week comes around and now I'm sick and the night before my daughter is throwing up (this has been a terrible year for illness in our family). So I email this person and try to explain that I HATE cancelling again but I don't have any other choice. I can't leave her and possibly have someone else clean up her vomit! Nu-uh. They didn't get it. They don't have kids but they have animals. But with animals, if the animal is sick, you just leave them home in their crate and do what you have to do. With kids it's different. You can't just leave them home alone or with a sitter when they are puking all over... that's an unwritten rule in the parenthood handbook - You can't leave your sick child at daycare or with a sitter. And little kids pick up every germ that is floating around their preschool! Every one. And then they stuff it up their noses or into their mouths. So kids get sick - a lot. And I think as new parents we learn that the hard way. I just wish childless adults could understand... but I can't blame them... they can't. It's not something you CAN understand until you're faced with the situation.