Sunday, May 20, 2012

Not Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

On Saturdays the neighbor kids ring the bell after lunch and ask for my kids to come over. After they leave I get to work cleaning and vacuuming because Julia can be extremely messy with all her art stuff and little cooking experiments. By the time I go over to tell them to come home, I have the place looking spectacular.

The neighbor kids like to come over too when I pick the kids up. It's like a reciprocation, and I have to agree that it's a nice trade for being able to get the house clean for a few minutes. 

But as previously stated, there have been problems with kids taking food without permission. First of all, no one is starved at home, and second, I love to feed kids but after a while I need some 'thank yous' or I get annoyed. There has been A LOT of food taking and no 'thank yous' lately, so much that I have started hiding food. The thing is, if you've ever given a kid ice cream, and they ask for more and start screaming when you tell them no, you have a problem. When they both asked for ice cream yesterday I decided to use a new tactic, "Can I have ice cream when I come to your house?" The little boy was like, "Uh . . . ." The girl said, "NO. We don't have any." The little boy interrupted her, "Yes we do! We have those candy popsicles!" She gave him a look that said, "SHUT UP." I just wanted them to think about what it feels like to give. 

But it backfired on me. When their grandmother came to take them home the little boy said, "Amy wants to come over and eat ice cream." Geesh. Kid. 

Whoops. 

Really, it was so bad yesterday that I may have a lockdown on visits. Julia was upset and wanted to go over there and tell them to behave so they could all still play together. As it was, she didn't need to, they came back and rang our bell because Julia had forgotten something at their house. She met them at the door saying, "You guys can't keep taking food without asking! And don't throw all the toys on the floor anymore!" They both looked at her like she was paste. "Go in the house, Julia!" Then Liam stepped on a bee and life took a different turn for a few minutes. Ah kids. 

5 comments:

  1. I always made even my kids ask for treats before taking them, and I NEVER allowed them to take food without being offered when we went out. I can;t stand it when kids are in my house and help themselves. I have a nephew who used to do that, opening new boxes of crackers, drinking milk from the carton, unwrapping new blocks of cheese. I finally told him he was not to open my fridge or pantry without being offered a snack or drink. I may be old fashioned because most kids do it.

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  2. Julia was so right in telling them to behave. I think that was great when you asked them for ice cream when you came to their house and then they reported to Grandma - oh Amy - a candid camera moment lol. You are a credit in the way you bring Julia and Liam up and they're really going to appreciate it when they get older. It's a shame their little friends are allowed to behave like they do - their parents/grandparents are really not doing them any favours.

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  3. They came over today--without asking. I hadn't even dried my hair yet after taking a shower. The girl was acting horrible, and I'm not kidding, and the last straw was when she grabbed a package of something she wanted to eat. I told her it was lunch time and to put it back--she'd be going home to eat soon. Well, she said no through her teeth and yanked the package away from me several times, and finally when she saw I wasn't going to give in, she smacked at the dustpan I had in my other hand from sweeping and said, "FINE." Oh boy, that has to be one of the rudest thing I've ever had happen to me. I told her she couldn't come back again until she used proper manners. I will not answer the door and my kids won't be opening it up either. Not for a while at least.

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  4. Hmmmm....I wonder what the home life is like for those kids? Probably not near as nice or as structured as the life you provide for your kids. Poor little devils...obviously they are missing out on a lot.

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    1. Family-wise and structure, yes I think they are missing out. And I've tried to be mindful of that. I guess there's always room to try harder.

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