Perseverance is Not Always a Such Good Thing
I heard the crying. It’s really not all that uncommon. My kids cry. A lot. It’s almost always about something completely insignificant. Isn’t it always? The thing is, what they have failed to realize is that the crying does not endear me to their cause. Quite the opposite.
I’ve had my fill of tears and my tolerance for crying as a means of communicating your displeasure is no longer acceptable. Seriously, I can’t take it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told my kids lately that if they really feel like they need to cry–do it upstairs in their room where I can’t hear it. Then when they are done and feel like they can participate in whatever meaningless and insignificant activity that has caused them to cry in the first place, they may return.
That being said, I still have to discern the Oscar worthy performances from those that merit “parental involvement”. We all do. It’s the I’m hurt cry. There’s just something about it that says you better check this one out.
And such was the case with Zander yesterday.
I looked out of the bathroom window and watched as Zoë led Zander toward the house. I had been doing important stuff like showering and clipping my toenails. The kids had been playing outside. I wrapped myself in a towel and made my way downstairs.
Me: “Zoë. Why is Zander crying?”
Zoë: (big sigh) “Well…we were all playing outside and Zander found Zane’s old bike. And so he said, ” Zoë, will you push me down the hill?” and I said, “No, Zander, you’ll fall.” And so he asked Zane, “Zane, will you push me down the hill?” and Zane said, “No, Zander, you’ll fall.” and so he asked Zia, “Zia, will you push me down the hill?” and Zia said, “No Zander, you’ll fall.” and so he asked Zella, “Zella, will you push me down the hill?” and Zella said, “Sure!”"
Me: “And?”
Zoe: “…he fell.”
Why he would even ask Zella is beyond me. She’s evil, that one. (It’s always the tiny ones you have to look out for.) For the record, Zander was fine. He had a scrape on his leg. I was going to take a picture of it so he could get even more sympathy but after I cleaned him up you could barely see it.
You have to give him credit for the persistence. I hear you about the crying though. I only have Lukas and I am starting to become ever so slightly imune to the ‘not physically hurt’ crying.
If at first you don’t succeed…(cry, cry again)
Love Xbox’s comment
I could never stand the crying-while-talking kind of crying. I did the same; “I’m sorry you’re sad. If you need to keep crying, you’ll need to cry upstairs. When you are finished crying, then come and talk to me.” (It didn’t usually come to that, though.)
I hear you on the crying…once Jack had a friend over, who cries at everything…she was about 6 years old…suddenly I hear her sobbing in the bathroom! She couldn’t reach the toilet paper….SERIOUSLY? I guess this is why I have boys…stuff like that makes me crazy.
And Zoe’s story telling ability is stellar!
James–One is easy–5–your grow numb!
Xbox–That is definitely their motto.
Mrs. 4444–Is mocking them being a bad parent? Because I’ll often say, “All I heard was Dad, wah, wah, wah!”
Kami–Had it not been for Zoe’s recounting of the events, I would have not had a story. I could barely keep a straight face while she ran through the whole thing.
Soda just came out of my nose because I laughed so hard.
It’s called survival, Ed. There’s no way one could respond to each and every wail… you’d go mental. My girl will stand in the middle of the room and wail, tears rolling down her cheeks, all red faced and snotty – and I tell her to get done with it already.
So Zella’s evil is she? You, my friend, are hilarious.
VegasDad–That’s gotta burn.
Karen MEG–OK, so maybe she’s not pure evil–but there are definitely some evil tendencies there.
I’m with you… unnecessary crying makes (I guess the proper word now is “made” since my kids rarely cry anymore) me nuts. I used to tell them a similar thing. “If you’re not bleeding, go up to your room and come down when you’re done crying and you can tell me all about your problem.”
Ya… they didn’t get much sympathy from me.
I’m not much of a coddler.
That being said, I still have to discern the Oscar worthy performances from those that merit “parental involvement”. We all do. It’s the I’m hurt cry. There’s just something about it that says you better check this one out.
3freester
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