Parents' professions through the eyes of a 3-year-old

Zachary, Jacob and I visited my friend yesterday at the college where I worked for the last several years.  For some reason, Zachary thought it was a doctor's office.  We explained to him that it was a school and that Miss Gayle was a teacher there. 

Knowing that Brian is also a college professor, Gayle asked Zachary what his daddy did, thinking it would help him to understand that we weren't at a doctor's office.  Zachary surprised us, though, when he answered "he builds beds".  We do have 7 children, so Brian has spent a fair bit of time putting together beds.  He's put together basinets, cribs, bunk beds, futons, and doll beds...he has, in fact, built a couple of beds from scratch, including our bed and the captain's bed he built for Rebecca before bunk beds entered our lives. 

For follow up, Gayle asked Zachary what his mommy did, and he replied that I am a nurse.  I am indeed a nurse...I have been an RN for 20 years and although I am not currently working in the nursing profession, it indeed remains a large part of my identity.  I was feeling kind of proud and smug that he knew my profession and not his dad's.

Today, I wanted to see if Zachary had a different answer for yesterday's questions.  You know the 3-year-old's imagination:  things can change rapidly.  Well, his responses were the same...dad builds beds and mom is a nurse.  I went one step further today, though, and asked what mom does as a nurse.  I was thinking maybe he'd say "give shots" or "help people".  Nope.  You see, 3-year-olds view relationships through the filter of how they are affected or might benefit.  Knowing that, it shouldn't have come as a surprise when he stated "you nurse babies".  Yep, I do....I've been breastfeeding my babies for nearly as long as I have been an RN!
 
I am not nearly so smug as I was yesterday...but I am humbled and happy.  What could be more pleasing than being recognized by your child for providing a safe and secure place to lay his head and the food he needs to live?  That is our job, a job we lovingly and gratefully accepted when we said "yes" to God's call for becoming parents.  There is no more important profession nor part of our identity, after all, than that of being parents, and I thank Zachary for reminding me of that so clearly! 

Time to get back to "work"...I need to lie Jacob in his basinet so that I can prepare Zachary some lunch!

Terrible Twos?

Really, whomever termed it "Terrible Twos" had clearly NOT arrived at the threes yet!  Twos have nothing compared with threes in my family...and today's three is a shining example.  Our three year old has been having some issues, possibly due to all of the changes of being a new big brother and starting preschool, but today is a dozie! 

I thought we were getting off on a good footing this morning:  I was in and out of the shower before Zachary was up, we had breakfast orchestrated and ready to come out of the oven, and he was not fighting me on getting to the bathroom and dressed.  THAT, however, was the end of the pleasantries.  He took one bite of the apple oven pancake put together by his big sister and started spitting it out...noisily...proclaiming his dislike repeatedly.  It was new.  He had tried it.  We offered alternatives.  He began screaming at every offering, thus getting NO breakfast besides a raw apple this morning, before we headed out to school. 

As we dropped off his siblings, Zachary said he wanted to go to Mr. Graydon's party.  I don't know Mr. Graydon, because he AND his house are imaginary, so no going to the party:  more screaming!  Pulling into the coffee shop's drive thru, I ordered my usual half-caf (seriously considered upping the ante this morning, though) and a flavored milk, thinking I could sweeten him up.  More screaming!!!  Fine..."no milk for you" Mr. Three!

Our plan to go to mass and then to the store no longer seemed feasible...three screaming fits and you're out!  Instead, we headed home to the tune of "I don't want to go home!" screamed repeatedly for the entire 10 minute drive at a decibel that surely had all canines in a 10-mile radius howling in misery.  I snickered as I turned up the radio (unsuccessfully trying to drown out the screams) and heard the line "Life is good today" being proclaimed by the Zac Brown Band!  HA! 

We're home & Zachary's in his room...not currently welcome with the general population (Jacob and myself) while screaming (only slightly muffled by the closed door that he is kicking).  Maybe we'll get to feeling that "life is good today" if the shreiking ceases or I find some earplugs.  Terrible twos?  I'll take them anyday over Tremendously Trying Threes!!!