Saturday, May 23, 2009

Lessons in child-rearing

As I sat at my youngest son's preschool graduation this week

it dawned on me that this is a pretty significant milestone in my life.  Come this fall, I'll have no little ones left at home.  As I pondered the last 11 years, I came to the conclusion that I'm thrilled to have this chapter in my life be over.  I'm sure that sounds bad to some of you , but all I can say is Woo-Hoo!!  

In honor of MY graduation from this stage of parenting I'm posting this hilarious commentary on having little ones in your home.  For those of you who are not yet parents, I urge you to consider the following 10 step program before you begin:


Lesson 1
  1. Go to the grocery store.
 2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
 3. Go home.
 4. Pick up the paper.
 5. Read it for the last time.
  
 Lesson 2
 A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
 1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
 2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
 3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
 4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
 5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
 6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
 7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
 8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
 9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
 Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.
  

 Lesson 3
 Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
 1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
 2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
 3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
 4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
 5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
 6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?
  
 Lesson 4
 Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
 1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
 2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
 Time allowed for this - all morning.
  
 Lesson 5
 Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
 1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
 Leave it there.
 2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
 3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
 4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
  
 Lesson 6
 Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
  
 Lesson 7
 1. Hollow out a melon.
 2. Make a small hole in the side.
 3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
 4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
 5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
 6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
 You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.
  
 Lesson 8
 Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Tele tubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.
  
 Lesson 9
 Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
  
 Lesson 10
 Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 9 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
  

5 comments:

Amber said...

Lol Meeka that is so funny, did you get that somewhere cuz if you made it up you are a genius! it' so true! you are lucky you are now graduated to an easier level of parenthood. (maybe not easier but more relaxing) And i might have to borrow this for my blog cuz i think it's so cute.

The Kay Family said...

Go ahead...it's someone else's genius, not mine. I just thought it was so fitting. It was sent to me via email from a friend, I'm not sure where she got it.

Leslie said...

That is very funny. My baby is going to kindergarten next year too. It is very exciting.

The Kay Family said...

How have I never noticed that our boys are practically the same age?

Allen and Heather Luke said...

That is so perfect! I think I'll have to steal it as well. And Congratulations!