Thread: The joy of Children

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

When thinking about my own kids I always remember the curse Bill Cosby's mother put on him. "One of these days you are going to have children just like you!" I think Bill's mother and my own know each other and plot against us.

I was told (by an aunt) that my dad was a fairly good parent until I learned to talk.

I've determined to teach mine that it's better not to say anything, to anyone, no matter how helpful or right you are.
It just leads to trouble.

unfortunately some of my more... sensitive advice...... has been repeated
to the very party it was regarding

fortunately people rarely have the gumption to come right out and say something to me

she was scared of a babysitter and told them (the couple)
"my daddy says if you hurt me he's gonna tate tare of you !"
"and I'm going to stick my thumb in your eye and bite you !!"

oh geez

Short story with my boy (he will be 1 year old tomorrow):
Couple days ago he was in the bathtub, playing arond, and i was watching him from the side. Suddently he grab my nose. I started to scream, not so loud, just to let him know it hurts. (Hoped he will stop doing it ). He started to smile, and started to pull my nose harder. I decided ok, i stop screaming. As i stopped the scream, he turned to me and looked at me questioning! And.. HE STARTED TO SCEAM!!! (of course pulling my nose!)

It was so funny i started to laugh...

I never (as far as I know) fathered my own children. I did however raise two for the eleven years my disastrous first marriage limped along. They were the daughters from my wife's first marriage. I loved those kids as if they were my own from the time they were one and three until they were thirteen and sixteen. One day they were gone. I never adopted them so when the divorce went through, the kids were not a factor. They were out of my life.

I was sitting at my desk in work one day six years later when the telephone rang. "Hello"

After about three seconds of silence a familiar voice on the other end said, "Hi Brad, this is Stephanie."

I was at a complete loss and all I could think to say was, "Hi, why are you calling me?"

"I was camping with some friends last week and I knew the types of birdsand trees and how to build a fire and none of the others knew any of that."

"And?"

"I just graduated from UConn with a degree in art history."

"Congratulations" I said but I was getting a little impatient. "Listen Steph, I very happy for you but I have a report to write here and it's not writing itself. Is there something specific I can do for you?"

"Well that's why I called, because you already did. I was out in the woods thinking about things and it came to me that what I knew about nature and my interest in art is only because you were in my life and I wanted to thank you." It brought me to tears.

She is a director in an art museum in a major city in the southwest US now.

I saw a poster one time and I will never forget it:

One hundred years from now...
It will not matter what your bank account was,
The sort of house you lived in,
Or the kind of car you drove...
But the world may be a better place because
You were important in the life of a Child!

Brad, thanks for sharing that. It didn't make me laugh like some of the other posts in this thread, but it's sadly beautiful, and I can only imagine what it felt like.

I hope in 20 years that my kids call me out of the blue and tell me something like that. I am not leaving anytime soon, but it sure would be nice to hear.

I think Brad's post best captures the feel of having children.
It feels very good to be needed.

to your children you are a hero

you are Superman, Encyclopedia Brittanica, a fireman, a chef, and a magician

and it feels good

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

I think Brad's post best captures the feel of having children.
It feels very good to be needed.

to your children you are a hero

you are Superman, Encyclopedia Brittanica, a fireman, and a magician

and it feels good

until they turn about 10 or 12 and you become ignorant, out of touch, and not much else but a burdensome bank from which is made a long, continuous withdrawal of time, money, energy, and love for the rest of your life (if you are fortunate to be so blessed)

oops! I love kids

To continue the humor, I was told (and family visitors have been told time and again) that one day after I went to the bathroom and the toilet got blocked, I shoved the vacuum cleaner nozzle in there and hit the power button, causing all kinds of nuisance (vacuum was ruined, dirty water on the floor, etc). I was only about 3 or 4 and I was just trying to fix what I had broken...

Originally Posted by khaos

To continue the humor, I was told (and family visitors have been told time and again) that one day after I went to the bathroom and the toilet got blocked, I shoved the vacuum cleaner nozzle in there and hit the power button, causing all kinds of nuisance (vacuum was ruined, dirty water on the floor, etc). I was only about 3 or 4 and I was just trying to fix what I had broken...

Perfect kid logic!

I know....
Apparently the woman who found me fixing my mess went hysteric, and my parents didn't know whether to laugh cry or be angry....