Children, now and then

First of all, I dropped the ball. Typical me. Set myself up for a challenge and managed to keep it up for one full day. Go me! But life is a work in progress, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it will take some time for me to stop being a procrastinator and get into the habit of writing every day.

In case someone wants to know, the other two goals I set myself were to drink 3 large glasses of water every day and to exercise for 20 minutes every day. So far I’ve managed to drink the water but have failed on the exercise challenge. Monday is the start of a new week so the perfect time to get back on track with exercising. This coming week will be a bit tricky for the challenges as I will be watching my 3 year old nephew full time and my two nieces (5 and 8) in the afternoon. Which brings me to my topic for today ... children.

That word brings so many different things to mind: Cute, funny, annoying, naughty, loud. Notice how most of them are negative. I feel horrible for saying it, but taking care of kids is such a challenge. Especially when I think of how different kids behave nowadays. Back in my day (god, I feel old!) children listened to adults and were basically seen and not heard. I had a strict upbringing and I actually respected adults and was afraid of disobeying them. I wouldn’t dream of talking back or expecting an adult to jump for me. There were rules and I did not disobey them because I did not want to get punished.
Nowadays, kids think that they can do as they please and never just do as they are told. They ask why, whine for more, and expect adults to do their bidding the minute they ask, never mind that the kids themselves don’t do what you ask. I think it all comes down to children not respecting adults because nowadays children think they are on the same level as adults. That, and because children are not properly punished anymore.

This is very frustrating and really gets to me. When I was a kid I understood the hierarchy of age. The older you were the more you had to say and the more you were allowed. You basically listened to everyone who was older than you and you could tell younger ones what to do.

Another thing that can get frustrating while taking care of kids: they don’t know how to play anymore. When I was young we watched no TV, watched one movie a week and were allowed on the computer for half an hour on the weekend. I don’t remember feeling bored. I always managed to find ways to busy myself. Games, playmobile, lego, puzzles, writing, colouring, drawing, my own IMAGINATION ... Nowadays kids only want to watch TV or play computer games. And when you say that they have to do something that does not involve a screen, they just do not know what to do. My 3 year old nephew especially has a problem with this. My two nieces (5 and 8) are a bit better, they have enough imagination to play schools or do something creative. Although the older one just plays much less than the 5 year old. So I don’t know if it is an age thing, a boy-girl thing or what. But I am a bit worried that their brains will turn to mush if all they know how to do is sit in front of a screen and be entertained.

I’m not used to taking care of children so the only thing I can draw on is my own experiences as a child, and it seems to be so different. I’m kind of stressing about this coming week. I don’t know how to keep the kids busy and I don’t know how I’ll cope with no me-time. But like all experiences in life, I’ll get through it somehow, because I have to.