When do you first imagine yourself wishing you were older or bigger? Write about it.
Being little sucks.
I never liked it. And I’ve never been one of those people who wishes I could go back to the days when we ran free through our neighborhoods and picked blackberries on hot days and came home with purple fingers and really had no responsibilities to speak of.
Those were great days. But oh how easily we forget the firm restraint of our parent’s law. No candy. No late night tv watching. No eating whatever we wanted. No cereal for dinner. No ice cream at midnight while browsing facebook friends. No no no no no.
I hated being controlled.
My Mom was the boss of everything.
Nothing irked me more than being told to clean my room only to have The Boss stand there with her arms crossed, foot tapping, eyebrows raised, waiting for me to get up that very second to clean the damn room. I liked to do things on my own time…which usually meant never and is why she would stand there like that, but still! It was annoying.
I remember screaming at The Boss in a bout of frustration and hard headed humility as I slowly picked the “little cruddies” off my bedroom floor, “WHEN I’M BIG I’M GOING TO GET YOU BACK…” I yelled tried to think of something REALLY good to get her with and remembering her distaste for four legged creatures, “I’M GOING TO HAVE 100 DOGS and 100 CATS LIVING IN MY BASEMENT…..AND I’M GONNA INVITE YOU OVER AND LET’EM ALL OUT!!!”
I wanted to grow up so I could be the one spanking and The Boss could be the one under MY rule. A little too young to understand that’s not quite how growing up works.
I wanted to grow up so that any plans for my day were all made by ME. No one else. I wanted to be in charge. I wanted to be able to get a cat or go to McDonald’s or drive aimlessly for no reason just because I could. I wanted to be The Boss.
And now I am.
And my kids are slobs. And I ask them to brush their teeth and clean their rooms and pick up their messes because SOMEONE around here needs to teach them how to live more like humans and less like piglets. Only they don’t listen very well and I’m forced to bark my orders as opposed to requesting them nicely and I have to stand there and stare at them with my arms crossed, foot tapping, eyebrows raised, and wait for them to get UP to do whatever it is they need to do.
Yesterday Laina said she can’t wait to be big. You see, we refuse to take the kids to the video store when there are missing videos in the house. Duh. You can’t rent another video until the last one you rented is turned in. You’d think they’d stop losing their videos.
Instead I get this, “Mom! I’m gonna be big. An I’m gonna drive yer car all da time an go anywhere where I want to go. An I’m gonna go to da bideo store an get all da videos an I’m not gonna find dem. I’m just gonna get what one I wanna get an not find ANY.”
Yes Laina. You grow up and YOU be that big Boss you’re hoping to be. And YOU rack up $50 in fines on your lost videos and keep renting videos and have yourself a good. ol. time.
Eileen says
Glad I finished my post moments after Mr. Linky showed up. What timing!
Thanks. I needed this tonight.
Amy says
Thanks :)
I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s thoughts.
Loved your story of wanting to be the boss. I haven’t heard it yet from my girls, although I’m sure it’ll come too soon.
Erin says
I haven’t heard my boys say they can’t wait to be big, but I tell them all the time I can’t wait for them to be bigger!!
Mama Kat says
And you KNOW we’re going to miss having little feet in the house when our teenagers are wreckless and defiant!
Lizgizzy says
That was fun! I can’t wait to see what other people write.
Lizgizzy says
Mama Kat- I liked your post. My son is just starting to not enjoy being little, so far he’s only told me that I’m being mean when I tell him to go potty before bed. I guess it only gets worse from here on out?
Jeanette@Bliss says
Love it! And you’re right, we do get to do what we want when we’re big. That’s why I’m still blogging at one in the morning. Silly. Maybe I need my mom to come and tell me to go to bed.
Missy says
You and I are so much alike. I couldn’t wait to grow up and move out and never look back. And… I wouldn’t go back to being a kid for all the money in the world.
Los says
I remember being at the public pool with friends and saying, “I can’t wait to be 21. I’ll be able to vote, drive, and go to bars. That’s going to be the greatest.”
Mama Kat says
And you were right. ;)
Amy says
I wrote about wanting to be bigger and older, too. What I wouldn’t give to be littler and younger now!
Serendipity-child says
This is such a great idea, thanks for posting it, got me feeling a bit better after feeling really ill today, also made me feel like I have done something productive.
Paige says
I love, love, love how the few people who wrote about the same prompt as me (#3) did it in such a different way. I loved them all!
Justine says
Ain’t it crazy how things came full circle for you? Wonder how they’ll torture you once they’re The Bosses?
Justine :o )
Mama Kat says
They’ll come running back with tears and apologies just like I did with their little tails tucked between their legs. And I’ll probably feel sorry for them.
Foursons says
Oh I love it! I love how yours and Laina’s minds worked/work as children.
Jen says
One of the consistent things that I remember from my childhood is that I couldn’t wait to get older and be big. Now that I am older and big, I wish I could go back and be a kids again.
Sigh. I am just never happy.
parenting BY dummies says
Dang, and I thought you were born being the boss since you seem so bossy in real life and stuff.
Mama Kat says
I only boss around ugly people…so….sorry about that. ;)
parenting BY dummies says
You’re lucky I love you otherwise I’m pretty sure I would hate you. And, when I hate people they should be scared, because I’m scary. And not just ’cause I’m ugly, it’s ’cause I’m bad, I’m bad, I’m bad I know I’m bad.
Mama Kat says
And I love you because I know you can take a joke. You know there are very few people I’d feel brave enough to call ugly. You and Jen from Buried With Children are two of the lucky two.
You’re welcome.
And of course I think you’re gorgeous and am totally kidding about all of this….you know…just in case deep down I’m hurting your feelings or something.
parenting BY dummies says
My feelings can not be hurt. I am a machine. A can-take-a-joke-like-nobody’s-business MACHINE. Plus, I’m awesome, and fact of the matter is, that’s really why you love me:)
Rebekah says
My first workshop attempt! Yay!
June Freaking Cleaver says
Did your mom ever utter the “mother’s curse?” That’s when, out of sheer frustration, she says that she hopes you have a child JUST LIKE YOU?
I had quite a long list of stuff I wouldn’t do/say to my kids when I became a mom, because I was the little princess of knowing all that is mean and unfair.
And I’m sure my adult daughters are navigating areas of their life and motherhood in direct opposition to how I raised them – even though I never uttered the “mother’s curse”.
Mama Kat says
I don’t think she ever did…she has a “knowing smile” she likes to use instead…which I have adopted as my own. :)
Stephanie says
See knowing what I know now I’d go back to those carefree days where someone else ran my life. I had the beach, the library and Zeppo’s pizza, with a jolly rancher apple stick to get me through my day.
Mama Kat says
Oh my gosh those jolly rancher sticks were the BEST! They don’t call them the good ol’days for nothing I guess right!?!
dusty earth mother says
Hilarious, MamaKat! Particularly love you threatening the Boss with 100 dogs and cats; what a visual image. Thanks for the laugh to start my day!
erica says
Its funny because if you had 100 cats and 100 dogs in the basement of your house, well, you would be kind of crazy.
Of course, to a kid… it’s just awesome!
Mama Kat says
I’d be crazy. I would smell. And I’d hate myself. Let’s just be glad I decided to steal her car at 15 and called it even.
Heather says
Great story. I was that same little girl… counting down the days until I was the boss. :)
Brea @ Brea's Befuddled Brain says
That was terrific Mama Kat.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to write about a great day for me!
Jenners says
Total proof that what goes around comes around! : )
Mama Kat says
I’ve apologized to my Mom too many times to count. AND she feels BAD for me!! You would think after the hell I gave her she’d just be cracking up. Not my Mom!
Jennifer says
If only things were the way we thought they were.
Jennifer says
Oh, and I thought I didn’t really like the prompts this week, but after writing it I think this is my favorite writer’s workshop ever.
Mama Kat says
Ooooh!! I can’t wait to read it!
Christie@MommyDrinksBecauseYouCry says
Did your mom ever say “I can’t wait until you do grow up and have children who are just like you.” Cuz litlle Laina here…HeeHeeHee.
My Dad said this to me all the time and it would make me sooooo mad. Twenty years later as my child is spitting strawberry milk onto the table and using her fingers to”draw pictures” in the mess, my husband just looks at me and says “She is sooooo your child!”
Mama Kat says
Oh yes, I definitely gave birth to MY children. No idea which one is Pat…if any. :)
Emmy says
Lol! Yep, all the horrible mean things we make them do when they are kids that they are not going to do when they get big… someday we will have our laughs :)
Cranky Sarah says
We’re nearly on the same wavelength with topic picking again this week.
My 6yo and I struggle with similar issues, I keep telling her she can have the freedom when she willingly takes up the responsibility that goes with it. I also have to point out on a daily basis that grown-ups don’t, in fact, always get to do what they want to.
Cranky Sarah says
ps I always get code errors when I cut and paste your badge code.
erica says
Make sure, if you had WP, you are in the “html” mode… and not the “visual” mode when you paste the code.
Also, make sure you copy the entire code… there is more than what you just see in the little box.
I had the same issue, and that is what worked for me.
S Club Mama says
i love when you write out how your kids talk ; they are so stinking cute
Loni says
I love posts where you quote your children. I love how you write exactly how they annunciate, da bideo store, love it! ;)
Shannon King says
I’m a big kid now! But I chose the one about parental relationships… I always tell my children that when they grow up and have kids they can make the rules…they hate that! They always say what I said when I was young and naive…I’ll never do that to my kids…hahahaa who will get the last laugh…muahhhhhh….kids are so cute and gullible…love em’
Kelly Deneen says
LOL. I could have written this post. Seriously. When did we become our mothers?! I started a “no yelling by anyone” rule in our house because I do not want to be a yeller like her. But I find myself doing it anyway. Ugh!
Kathy says
That was great :) Isn’t it sad when we become our mothers? lol
Heather says
these are wonderful – looking forward to more!
rhonda says
I remember phoning my mom one time, all decked out in crocodile tears for drama’s sake, and sobbing!! She was so worried and asking what was wrong. So I said. “It happened!! Oh. My. God. I’ve become YOU!!!”
And then we laughed our asses off. lol
Margaret says
I find it funny how parents always end up with one kid that is just like them!
Christopher (AKA: CaJoh) says
I wish I remembered who did the song, but there was a song that spoke about I’m turning into my parents. It was quite funny, but I heard it so long ago I wouldn’t know where to begin looking.
Thanks for reminding us that our parent’s secret wishes of “Just you wait til you have kids of your own” actually does come true.
Kristi {at} Live and Love...Out Loud says
Kat, I am being assaulted by kids who want to be “The Boss” from every angle – both teens and the 7-year old. I’m just biding my time, waiting for the day that I can finally say “I told you so!”, just like my mom. :) Enjoy the ride!
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
Jen says
LOL… Isn’t it funny how we become our parents? Despite our best efforts not to! You are so right though! I wish to be a kid again, but you reminded me of all the stuff I couldn’t do because my parents wouldn’t let me, that I still usually don’t do today (because I was brought up better than that!), but it’s nice to be able to sometimes. Sometimes I don’t feel like cooking, so cereal for dinner is cool. Or I really like just putting my feet on the coffee table and not cleaning my room one Saturday.
Jade says
A couple years ago my daughter said something to me that I never would have uttered to my own mother…I said,”Grace, go get your dirty clothes and bring them to me, then clean up the bathroom counter.”
Here’s where she says it…
“Why? It’s YOUR job.”
After she regained consciousness…she brought me her clothes and cleaned the bathroom.
Robin says
LOL! This brings back so many things that I thought would really upset my mom. Like when I threatened her with qutting kindergarten and running away to marry a Bunny farmer.
Gina says
My big thing as a kid was never having to eat green beans as a grown-up. And now, I love them. But I don’t force my kid to eat them. I just can’t bring myself to do it!
Michelle says
Missed writing this week- got about five drafts and couldn’t finish one! Oh well. I hated (still hate) being controlled too. I remember thinking grownups were such jerks always thinking we kids were stupid. I learned to read early because I hated knowing my parents could know things I didn’t just because they could read! Happy Thursday!
Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" says
Nope, not me. I was like Peter Pan–never wanted to grow up! I knew I had it good!
Lourie says
Isn’t it just grand the way our kids throw out the same trash talk we did?? *sigh* I dread the teenage years that are fast approaching.
debi9kids says
LOL! Too cute! Don’t you just love how our words come back to bite us in the butt? (we always seem to be gifted with at least one child who is EXACTLY like we were as a child. LOL)
ps I do wistfully look back on those days of eating blackberries from the bushes….
Miss Welcome says
Oops. duh. I just realized it’s Friday and you’re supposed to post on Thursday!
Tracy P. says
Oh thanks for the Laina fix, Mama Kat. She’s your mini-me. ;-)
stu pidasso says
sorry I’m late. Had it all posted and and meant to come add my submission but got caught up with the kids on spring break. Better Nate than lever!