Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Feudal Wall Between Therapy and Humor



My father and I recently exchanged e-mails. Me asking if the gig he just drummed at was a successful party. Him replying that it was fun, but that he was ashamed, no fist fights and police did not have to be called.
(He retired from being a nurse to revert back to his twenties as a drummer in a rock and roll band. I am so proud. Gives me hope in my future.)
It was after our chat that it hit me: Dad has accomplished the goal that I have set for myself as a parent: To raise my boys so that they won't be screwed up enough to need therapy to get over my parenting skills, and enough dysfunction in the home that they walk away from the family nest with a sense of humor. As they are twenty and seventeen, so far, I am on track. They are still young, so I can not say this with totally certainty. Sometimes afflictions don't show up until much later in life. But, so far, so good.

I had a friend who once told me that parenting is a one-way street. Parents give, kids receive. It's the moms and dads who insist on appreciation from their kids, attach strings to all gifts, and force their will on every cotton pickin' thing, that fail. While I can't say I've never partaken in these vices, I try my best to avoid them.

But I don't know that I agree whole-heartedly with the one-way street theory. The boys have given me the gift of blowing my ego smack off my shoulder. When they were young, the little love buckets would poke at my thighs and upper arms and let me know how fun it was to watch my fat jiggle. As teenagers, they verbally examined every thing I said so often, I questioned my every thought and word. Was I as crazy and weird as they portrayed me to be? Because, some of the stuff they said was true. I was not as perfect as my mind had led me to believe.

I've broken many parenting traffic laws along the way. In their vulnerable, trusting, innocent youthful years, I got away with many alternate facts: The ice cream truck that drove through the neighborhood? A music van, no treats there, kids. Those rideable toy horses and cars that once were posted in front of grocery stores? Every one of them were perpetually out-of-order. This scam saved me enough quarters to get them through college. Carrot soup? Renamed as 'orange' soup and they slurped it down.

Yes, I was a lying, scurvy mother. But if no one reveals to them my devious behavior, they will never know.

I even lied, just once to Dad. At sixteen, after mowing the back lawn, he brought me out a warm can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Not only did I keep my mouth shut that those are gross, I allowed him to believe that that was my first sip of alcohol. Again, if no one tells him my duplicitous mouth, he will never know.

As I have allowed myself to be vulnerable before you, I urge you to do the same. What kind of lying, cheating harm have you done to the children in your life? Please, reveal it in the comments box below. The more we know of other people's failings, the more open we can be about our own. Not only will this allow people to feel less shame about their past, it will also give us more ammunition for gossiping.

Have a splendiferous new year. Try to keep it between screwing up so much that you need to wear a straight jacket, and partake in enough adventure to keep you laughing and joyful.

Children's book series that follows my parenting goals?



Heather Leigh,
Habitual Parental Liar

No comments:

Post a Comment