Revisionist History

We took a trip for Thanksgiving.  To the Land of Revisionist History.  Maybe you've been there.  It's the place where everyone else in your family remembers how quiet and well-behaved THEIR kids were.  And what strong disciplinarians THEY were.  And how their kids responded to said discipline with respect.  Not JUST respect, but actually, GRATITUDE.  Because they had such excellent parents who were so, you know, organized and on-the-ball.  And strict!  Don't forget strict.  Because they were.  And their kids LOVED it.

It's funny, because the memories I have of the other kids in my family are slightly different.  It's the Land of Remember the year we all had to get up and change places because we weren't sitting where a 3-year old wanted us to?  Remember the Pictionary games that got taken over by kids who couldn't read or draw?  Remember the spills and the tantrums and the wrestling and the arguments?  Remember the tired parents who sunk into the couch, clutching a wineglass, praying that someone else would watch their kids for 20 minutes?

Those are the family gatherings I remember.  And, isn't that the way holidays always are with kids?  They are wound up like tops with excitement.  There are uncles to wrestle.  Cousins to pester.  Houses to explore.  Unfamiliar foods to be treated with suspicion.  Scratchy sweaters to complain about.

That's how it is and always has been.  It doesn't mean it can't be fun.  You just have to adjust your expectations.  Kids will act like kids.  Even when when they are well-behaved, they are still kids.  If you expect them to act like mini-adults, you will only be aggravated.

And if someone remembers that THEIR kids did act like mini-adults, particularly if they remember this OUT LOUD, it's not only inaccurate, it's bound to cause conflict.  (And it just may inspire a snarky blog post.)

The holiday season is just getting started.  There are lots more gatherings to attend.  I hope to avoid the ones that are held in the Land of Revisionist History and enjoy the ones that are held in the Land of Children Make the Holidays Magical.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post.

Sue may bite her tongue in real life, but only rarely on her blog, Laundry for Six.