Posted: Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 10:03 am.
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Notes: 28.
  1. thememegeneration answered: You have to pick your battles, unless you want to fight them all.
  2. pufflepie answered: Oh man I relate and yes I pick my battles. Love those little ones, they rock.
  3. wnes answered: You pick your battles. My daughter has learned all too well how to fight for what she wants, which is always the opposite of what’s right.
  4. groverviolet answered: I think that’s a good call… People need to learn the right thing to do through the stupid shit they do.
  5. constantflux answered: choose your battles..the small ones aren’t worth the stress..my oldest is 15..it just gets worse as they get older, unfortunately..
  6. rolandfox answered: I have 2 boys, 7 and 5. Monkeyfrog might be on to something. Boys that age don’t like to admit to you when they’re embarrassed.
  7. redcloud reblogged this from tj and added:
    My boy will be six in two months. He’s been arguing with me for over a year. I have...same...
  8. ronbailey answered: He’s a lucky kid, with an awesome dad. You done good.
  9. chokladkakan answered: I agree with what you conclude, that he is testing his wings and also that he might need some ‘wins’. Be consistent, and I think it’s good.
  10. jaydensmommie answered: Parenting. Eyeroll. AMIRITE?! LOL! I’m totally with you on this one. You’ll know when it’s worth fighting over.
  11. texburgher answered: Yeah, let him get a little wet, wonder how dad KNEW this was going to happen, and wish he’d brought his raincoat. :)
  12. crazycolours answered: Yep. Let him get wet if he wants. He’ll learn better from that “mistake”. Also, it’s rain, not acid probably, so he’ll be cool.
  13. monkeyfrog answered: He may get teased for wearing a raincoat. I bet it is as much about school friends as pushing boundaries.
  14. tj posted this

The Boy

Me: “It’s raining, you should wear your raincoat.”

Him: (looking outside) “It’s not raining”

Me: “It’s not raining at the moment, but you see how everything is wet?”

Him: “But it’s not raining now…”

Me: “Yes that’s true. I checked the forecast and it’s going to rain again later. Bring your raincoat.”

Him: “My raincoat doesn’t fit in my backpack.”

Me: “Put it on your body.”

Him: “But when I get to school I’ll have to take it off.”

Me: “Put it in your locker.”

Him: “But it might get confused with [person he shares the locker with]. I don’t mind getting wet.”

Me: “You know what, do whatever you want.”

(He gets this from his mother.)

This is the pain in the ass part of being a parent. Especially at this age, I could easily make him wear a jacket, either by putting it on him, or by yelling at him. Or by telling him how “disappointed” I am that he’s being so stubborn about this for no good reason.

He would hate hearing that he’s disappointed either of us.

At the same time, I know he’s trying to assert some independence and as annoying as that can be (especially when it’s over something goofy like this) he’s testing his wings. On the other side, I don’t want him to start becoming argumentative over every little thing. Now if it was 32ºF and he wanted to go out in shorts and flipflops, I’d be more insistent. But I think it’s important to let him have some of these decisions, even when I disagree with him.

Thoughts?

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