Saturday, March 29, 2008

Irony Defined

*irony (n.) Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs*

I would say that my parents were pretty strict as I was growing up. They always knew where I was going, when I was going, when I was coming home, and who I was going with. Every time the phone rang, and it was for me, I would hear, "Who was that?", when I hung up. I had a strict bedtime. My mom was very insistent that I eat well balanced, healthy meals, and we rarely had any snacks in the house. I wasn't allowed to drink pop, except on special occasions. My mom used to snag my tapes and read the words, then hide the ones she didn't approve of. I wasn't allowed to see rated R movies. I had to go to school unless I had a fever (which I very rarely ever do), or threw up, (which I've only done 3 times in my life). My parents monitored what I watched on tv - my mom had MTV blocked. I am certainly not saying all this to make you think my parents were mean. They just loved me and wanted the best for me. I understand that now.

Now that I am a mom, I am what most people would consider "strict". I don't give Dylan sweets, except on a few rare occasions. The only tv I have let him watch to this point is Steeler football games that are on in the afternoon, because we have to watch the games, man, and his signing videos. (I am definately not trying to start a debate here, this is just the choice that I have made for now).

My parents were here babysitting Dylan while I worked on Thursday. When I got home, my dad told me, "Dylan was pointing to the tv. He wanted to watch his video(signing), but I couldn't figure out how to get it to work. We turned a cartoon on for a few minutes, but then I thought you wouldn't like that, so I turned it off".

Even though I wasn't there, he felt guilty about not following "my rules"!!!

And, that, my friends, is IRONIC.

11 comments:

Pam said...

That is funny! At least they didn't pull the grandparent card and they respected your rules....you all make a great team!

Burgh Baby said...

Man, on the rare occurrences that the Grands have Alexis, they break every single one of my rules just as fast at they can. Of course, so does Mr. Husband. I guess I'm the only "mean" one in her life!

Anonymous said...

How very, very ironic indeed.

Very cute story.

No one listens to my rules it seems.

The sweets thing...tried to keep it going and for the most part I try to limit how much he has. The sitter? She might as well shovel it into him like it's the last food on earth some days. Nah, not really. But sometimes it feels like that.

Kellan said...

That is ironic - HA!

Hi Jen! Thanks for coming by and leaving the kind well wishes - so nice to see you. I hope you have been okay. I'm still recovering, but trying to get back into the swing of things, as I am bored to death. I'll see you soon - take care - Kellan

Shellie said...

hEE HEE, just be glad he cared about your rules..he's a good man.

JCK said...

But, what a good grandpa! You hear so many stories of parents changing how they were with you and completely ignoring "your rules" when with their grandchildren!

Janet said...

I agree with JCK, it's no nice they didn't turn Jekyll and Hyde on you. Both sets of parents have done that with our kids. Although cable didn't exist until I was 18, so the TV thing was kind of a non-issue. I do remember being annoyed that my bedtime was at 8:30 and I couldn't see the rest of Bonanza. We've managed to keep soda away from our 2, but when the Queen was 2 1/2 she participated in an Easter Egg hunt and discovered the treats inside the plastic eggs. And ate several handfuls. ANd was wired for 2 days. So now we keep Hershey's kisses on hand and she knows that she can have one a day. Some days she doesn't even ask. Our primary reason for that is because hubby's sister completely forbid sweets for her kids, and at Christmas they would grab handfuls of cookies and fudge and go hide in the closets to eat it. It seems that in our family extremes don't work as well as moderation. I don't know what the best thing is.

Anonymous said...

Yeah grandpa! Way to do the right thing!

Joanna said...

You're lucky. My folks did all that but now they decided to relax on my rules. I secretly think grandparents are trying to bribe their way into heaven through their grandchildren. If that's true my folks are screwed.

Kellan said...

Hi Jen - hope you had a good Monday! Nice to see you today. I'm still recovering here at home, but so trying to get back into the swing of things. Have a good evening and I'll see you this week - thanks for being such a good friend!!!! Kellan

Sparx said...

That's great! We started out all strict too but now the spud just turns the tv on himself. he's not allowed sweets though - in fact, his favourite treat is a cup full of peas, hooray!