Last night I was watching a re-run of “ Bones” (one of my favorite shows) and the main character made a reference to mothers, saying she didn’t know how they did it. I don’t remember the exact words but it was something to the effect of “ at least with dogs you train them for a few weeks and your done, with children you spend a large chunk of your lifetime doing it.”
I had never thought about it quite like that before… mothers always being in training mode. For the last few months I have been attempting to toilet train my son. We have had a lot of starts and stops and I admit sometimes I have become very frustrated.
Partly because somewhere in my mind I think that once we get past this hurdle, the “training” will be over.
Before I had my son I was a veterinary technician for 20 years. I’ve trained a few dogs and cats in my day. Most of the time successfully, cats in a matter of minutes usually and dogs in a week or two. They get it and they are done. Training over.
That word… “ Training”… I think is why I’m having trouble dealing with my son. I have no problem with the concept of teaching my child well into adulthood, but training should have an end point in my mind. Of course I know he will stop fighting me at some point, want to wear underpants and use the toilet like a grown up and because we home school it’s not that much of an issue (except with everyone else who keeps asking me about it).
I think if I take the word training out of the equation, I’ll be more at peace with the process. After all, Bones was right, we never really stop training/teaching/guiding our children through life.
6 comments:
I must have crazy dogs because I've had them for years and I'm still training them. LOL!
Good luck with potty training. I'm not yet a mom (soon, I hope) but that's one mom thing I'm really not looking forward to.
With three kids (24, 22, 17)my first thought was "yeah, training isn't quite the right word". So then I considered guidance and support and several others. But the truth is at 24 I am still training. Things that somehow just don't get covered in childhood. I am just glad that rather than jump off with a reaction they still ask my opinion first.
I think my mom is still training me in many ways... passing on her years of wisdom. A mother's work is truly never done! As for your son, don't fret the potty-training. It will happen before you know it. Good luck homeschooling. I did it for 3 years and absolutely loved it!
I never enjoyed the toilet training thing..As far as people saying things..pay no mind to them..One of my daughters got a dinosaur potty for her son, it finally worked..I know, it sounds crazy, but it was the cutest potty I had ever seen..
This is exactly why I'm perfectly fine not being a mom yet. I can train my horses, I can train my dogs.... but I really fail when the nieces and nephews come over. Maybe in a few years I'll be ready :)
You're right -- it doesn't end! I have some brothers who are still living at home! ;)
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