competitive parenting
An open letter to all over zealous DC parents:
I could care less about your darling child's amazing skills. Really I do not care. I don't care that Johnny could read by the time he finished pre-school. I don't care that Susie is fluent in 3 languages not including her native tongue. I don't care that Johnny is in the top 10% of his class. (Uh hello, yeah, I was that kid once.) I don't care that Susie can recite the Periodic Table of Elements including their Atomic and valence numbers. (Yeah, I'm a chem-nerd too, but prefer to leave that for my child to learn later.) You pushing your children to do things that you were unable to do is not going to fulfill you in any way. It won't. Not one bit.
Do you know what will?
Being with your kid. Try by starting to have supper together, one that you might even cook yourself. And impressing me? It's not working. I am not impressed. I am not going to let you make me feel that my child is any less of a human than yours. I do not expect my children to be perfect. I expect them to be happy and enjoy childhood. What I feel when I encounter someone like you is sadness. Sadness for your child. Sadness in knowing that to you your child is nothing more than a trophy to shine. Give your child your time and love. While you are pushing your child to be this perfect person I'll be outside laughing and playing with my children; Because they are only this wonderful for such a short time and I am not going to miss one bit of the fun.
I could care less about your darling child's amazing skills. Really I do not care. I don't care that Johnny could read by the time he finished pre-school. I don't care that Susie is fluent in 3 languages not including her native tongue. I don't care that Johnny is in the top 10% of his class. (Uh hello, yeah, I was that kid once.) I don't care that Susie can recite the Periodic Table of Elements including their Atomic and valence numbers. (Yeah, I'm a chem-nerd too, but prefer to leave that for my child to learn later.) You pushing your children to do things that you were unable to do is not going to fulfill you in any way. It won't. Not one bit.
Do you know what will?
Being with your kid. Try by starting to have supper together, one that you might even cook yourself. And impressing me? It's not working. I am not impressed. I am not going to let you make me feel that my child is any less of a human than yours. I do not expect my children to be perfect. I expect them to be happy and enjoy childhood. What I feel when I encounter someone like you is sadness. Sadness for your child. Sadness in knowing that to you your child is nothing more than a trophy to shine. Give your child your time and love. While you are pushing your child to be this perfect person I'll be outside laughing and playing with my children; Because they are only this wonderful for such a short time and I am not going to miss one bit of the fun.
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