I cannot stand complaining. Unless I'm complaining about my kids, in which case complaining is totally acceptable. In general though, I can't stand it. Whining and complaining are my pet peeves.
My kids take turns with the whining and complaining. This is a nice thing they do for me because if they were both doing it at the same time it would be too much and my head would explode. This week it was my oldest daughter's turn.
On Monday, I took the children to the zoo and out to lunch. We saw all kinds of animals, we fed goats, went to different presentations. We had a good time. We were by the barn and the kids started asking to go to the gift shop. I told them that we would go on our way out as it was on the opposite side of the zoo and we still had some more exhibits to see. "We will go right before we leave. It's by the exit, we have a few more things to see." That was not good enough. "I don't want to see the koalas, blah, blah, blah, blah....I want to leave, blah,blah,blah...."
I paid $50 to go to the zoo. I wanted to see the damn koalas. I snapped at her, "You know what you did today? You went out to lunch at one of your favorite places, you looked a freaking giraffe in the eyes while it ate out of your hands, you touched a hedgehog, you saw elephants. On a scale of 1 to amazing - your life is pretty damn amazing today so shut up."
She pouted. Whatever. We went to the stupid gift shop and the kids wasted their money on overpriced junk. The rest of the day was okay. I calmed down a bit.
On Tuesday, I took the girls downtown to get facials which was sooo awesome. I needed it. The girls felt so fancy. Somehow they convinced me to take them out to lunch again. The level on whining on Tuesday was reasonable.
On Wednesday, we relaxed. I kind of felt bad because I ignored the kids while I cleaned the house. In the afternoon I told the kids that I was going to get them a special treat after we picked up their friend. It was a surprise. I was going to do an ice cream sundae bar. We were going to the grocery store to get ice cream, whipped cream, fudge, caramel, waffle cone bowls, peanuts, sprinkles, cherries. The whole thing. I wasn't even going to get to eat one because I didn't want to use up my calories.
I was going to surprise the kids and let them pick out what they wanted. We walked into the grocery store to the ice cream section and I said, "We are going to do an ice cream sundae bar!"
My oldest crossed her arms.
She turned her nose up like I told her we were going to eat piles and piles of shit, and announced to me, "Ugggh! I didn't even want ice cream sundaes. That's not even a treat!"
Oh.My. God. I lost my mind. I did what any good mother would do. I pointed my finger in her face and I said, "You know what? You're an a-hole." Except I said the actual word. Out loud. I the grocery store. In front of 5 people who looked at me like I was the worst person ever. I didn't even care.
I let the other kids pick out the things while she pouted. I didn't even feel bad about it. Worst Mom Ever. Bad Mom Award.
I love my kids and I like to do nice things for them. I'm not asking for them to be overly thankful. I just don't want them to be completely ungrateful. Or if they're going to be ungrateful and unappreciative they could keep it in their heads.
She could have stood in front of the ice cream freezer and thought, I hate my mom. Does she think this is a treat? I hate ice cream. She is so lame.... I would not have known any different and life could have gone on happily.
We had a long talk about counting our blessings and how mom and dad don't have to do extra things for them, ect. I hope next week will be better. It will be my 9 year old's turn.
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