Trials and Tribulations

My parenting game is off. Way off. I’m feeling completely indecisive and lost. This happens a lot because the kids just keep growing and changing and it’s hard to keep up with them. We just recently survived the Epic Battle of the Light Saber with Miguel. He wanted a light saber and we didn’t want him to have one because we are not fans of play that is not all hippy love and light. We held firm. He respectfully stated his case - repeatedly. The trouble is that he is smart and articulate and I am a natural vacillating Libra. I found myself thinking, “Well, that’s a good point” or “That’s true.” Then, we realized that we have been sliding down a slippery slope on the whole weapon thing for quite some time (one parent allowed a gun with the Halloween costume and then never took it away while the other parent bought a water gun). It’s so easy to hold a line when they are two. It’s harder when peer influence comes into play. I’ll spare you the gory details of the discussion that went on for weeks and I'll cut to the chase – we bought the damn thing for him for his birthday. Lesbian moms…making dreams come true for $8.99. Basically, we realized that the light saber had become larger than life. It had become the forbidden fruit. So, he got what he wanted and we hope that he understands our complicated feelings about it and realizes that he got it because he was reasonable and respectful in his arguments. More than likely, he will think he got it because he wore us down to little parental nubbins which is probably also true.  Now, we have a soccer issue. Miguel loves soccer and he’s pretty good at it. Some might even say that he has some natural talent. He’s been playing with a more competitive league this summer and has a chance to try out for their regular fall league. If he made the team, he would likely get better coaching than in Parks and Rec soccer. Keep in mind that Miguel has complained that Parks and Rec soccer is just “too easy” for him but he doesn’t want to try out for this other league because his best friend isn’t trying out. In all honesty, I don’t really want to deal with the more competitive team because the hassle factor would be higher but I hate that he is opting out simply for social reasons. So, as it stands now, he is not trying out and we are supposedly not talking about it anymore but…thoughts anyone? When do you push and when do you back off? If he simply didn't want to play or felt it was too intense, I would understand but this feels different somehow.  

Lest you think that Zeca is quietly watching all of this unfold from her perch on her angelic cloud, let me tell you that she is driving us crazy too. I’ll save her story for another day but I’ll give you a teaser. Let’s call it the Epic Battle of the Glass of Water.

Wake me up when they go back to school, would ya?