So this morning Rich woke us up and said that we were having breakfast out at IHOP before he had to return to the rig ;) wee haw the boys were excited, so was mama. So we're at IHOP, eating and listening to the buzz of the crowd, when I look over and notice a little girl and her dad enjoy a breakfast out. I immediately think how sweet to see the 2 sharing some time together and then I over hear the little girl, who honestly cannot be more than 10 yrs old order her drink, you got it..."Raspberry Mocha" I am 1st like what?? IHOP has flavored coffee's and then I am like "what in the hell, did she, I think she did, she's 10, why is she ordering a coffee drink and why is her dad, OKAY with this??? Then it gets better she grabs her cell phone and is shocked to see she only has 2 bars of WIFI available--I mean seriously IHOP, only 2 bars??
Call me crazy but shouldn't this little girl be reading a book, a magazine, store ads, something...chatting about the mall, polly pockets, I don't know maybe a tween heart throb or a Disney show. I totally get why the girl wants to be older, I always wanted to be a teen when I was a little girl but why is her dad okay with her growing up so fast?? There is plenty of time for raspberry coffee and wifi...why do parents' nowadays allow so much more then they use too, I truly don't get it and I am going to go ahead and apologize for me getting up on my soapbox.
Seriously, so many things that occur now have a lot to do with what we allow as parents', why can't we spank, why can't we tell our kids no, why can't we tell them to wait until they are older?? If we did more actual parenting and guiding versus being their friends then maybe we would have kids who enjoyed playing outside, kids with manners, kids who enjoyed being kids.
Have my boys tasted coffee, yes, will they get to have their own cup at 9, Hell No, they can do what I did, order hot chocolate and pretend it's coffee, which as I think back to my childhood it was always fun to play pretend and I am blessed that I had such a great imagination, that could be why it's so much fun for me to play with Holden and Jaxon now and it's always easy to come with ideas when they are in the "imagination mood"
I am sure people think I am getting a little wack a doo about flavored coffee and the Internet but be honest that's how it starts, you break the one rule you never thought you would break and it makes it easier to continue to break your rules, why?? because we always have reasons for why we changed our mind, "I always work late" "they get good grades" "we just divorced, it's hard on them" "just this once" believe me there are things I have allowed that I never thought I would allow but then I witness something that I am sure this dad believes is innocent and it reminds me to make sure I tell Jax and Holden "no" and mean it!!!
Until tomorrow....
The changing times....I totally get it. I got my first cell phone at 19, my son got his at 11 and my daughter MAY get hers at 8 or 9 (mom is fighting that with dad). Where does it end? Of course I got mine at 19, because prior to that cell phones were the size of a small house and were not practical. Times have changed. I agree with the coffee thing, why do we fill our kids with caffeine and "grown up" drinks? I'm not ready for my kids to be adults, I'm certainly not going to encourage drinking coffee, having a cell phone, email, facebook, youtube accounts and all the other "grown up" scary things that are out there. If so, then I may as well start taking their allowance and keeping it for "rent" and to help with the utilities - make a little money off this deal...that's a great idea! :-) However, sometimes I break my own rules and allow them to partake in these things...usually a special treat. Maybe this girl & her dad were on a "date" and it was a special treat - that's what I'm going to think anyway...you stick to your guns Mel - your kids will benefit from that...but sometimes, you just need coffee. Hugs ~ L xoxoxox
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