Dave warned me that if I title it that, I'll have crazy people coming out of the woodwork! I'll take my chances!
So, a while back I took the boys to the Children's Museum with my friend Angie and her kids. One of the museum workers brought out a parachute. You know, the kind where everyone sits in a circle and takes a handle and you lift it up and down. So, Joseph grabbed a handle and I sat behind him. The worker gave instructions on what to do. Joseph wasn't following very well, so I told him to listen to the man and sit down on his knees like the other kids. He didn't do "up...down" so I said it with the man, "up....down...up...down." Finally Joseph had enough of my back seat parachuting and dropped it to go play something else.
Now, have I really become that kind of mom? The kind that makes kids do it right until they don't want to do it at all. Emphatically NOT! You see, I have a history with parachutes in particular. I spent a lot of years in elementary school and then 5 years teaching preschool and I just REALLY HATED it when kids wouldn't follow the directions! I'm mean come on! up....down...up...down. And what really irritated me was when kids would let go and run to the middle when they weren't supposed to or wouldn't go under and sit on their hands to make a big puff ball when they WERE supposed to!! Or just step on the parachute so no one could play at all! But the worst of all, the mother of all parachute sins, was dropping the ball! When the ball comes your way, lift UP for pity's sake! LIFT UP! For once I just wanted to play parachute with kids who care! Kids who wanted to make it work! What were they thinkin? Were they having fun ruining it for me? It's not all fun and games you know!
So basically, what I'm asking for is a group of people who want to do it right!....But who won't get mad at me if I drop the ball.
2 comments:
That video is hilarious, and so is the story!
Jo, someday you, me, and a couple other parachute-playing parents need to get together! (We have a mini-parachute at our house & it drives me nuts because my kids won't play it right, either; the up/down activity lasts maybe 10 seconds if they cooperate at all; they prefer to sit under it and let it be a tent...which lasts maybe 2 minutes). And I promise I won't get mad if you drop the ball.
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