While sitting at the kids' swimming lessons today, I definitively closed the book on a decision. Mind you, this decision has been made in my mind logically for the better part of 4 years. But, this particular afternoon put the proverbial nail in that coffin.
While watching the kiddos prepare to walk in the pool area, my ears were overtaken by a whine. Not the whine of a train whistle or the whine of a police siren. No, this was the whine of a little kid. A little kid that wasn’t getting her way, so she decided to pitch a fit. And that, ladies and germs, is when it became absolutely, 100%, Claritin® clear that I was done having kids.
When you have a 4 and 6-year old, friends and family (mostly ones you don’t see on an every day, or every week, basis) pepper you with that question that every young parent couple gets. “So, are you going to have any more kids?” And when Jayme and I have gotten this question before, we do what we always do. We make that little small-talk laugh and say we think we are done and go on about the conversation.
No more.
I’m done.
I’m serious.
My kids are just old enough now that we can come at a situation from somewhat of a rational place. As much as Brian likes to act like he doesn’t know what’s going on when he pitches his little s**t fits, deep down he knows what’s going on. He’s just trying to see what we do. How we react.
Even then, there’s none of that want-to-rip-your-hair-out whining stuff that little(r) kids like to display when something doesn’t go exactly their way. And why is it that they always save this type of stuff for when they’re in public? Are their little brains cognizant of that stuff at that age? Do they know they are inflicting that kind of embarrassment on their parents? Do they know how much we want to beat them when this happens?
<deep breath>
I don’t want to go back to those days. Despite my own kids' moments, they are good kids. They’re polite. They know how to act in public. They know their manners. It’s taken a couple of years, and some serious biting of the tongue and holding back of screams, but we’re here now. And I’m immensely proud of them. I’m not going back.
