Pre-emption

Of course my father has a quip for such occasions which runs ‘if you can’t take a joke, then you shouldn’t have joined.’ This roughly translates to ‘if you have no sense of humour, then you should have taken this pertinent fact into account prior to the arrival of the sperm.’

Grandparents take particular delight in seeing their children struggle with the next generation. This is fair enough, as it is only right and proper that their should be a few compensations becoming a senior, now that status of 'wise being' has been eroded.

I expect it's more amusing for them, the grandparents, if their their children breed later in life. The generation who choose to have everything, career, security then children later.......

Grandparents worry that it will never happen, or if it does, that they'll already be in their graves. Their style of parenting has been thrown out along with the arc, disparaged and undermined. How they must chuckle.

Parents deal with their different children and their different characters as best they may. But more often than not, before you know it, you find that a peculiar turn of phrase has become the norm. It happens without you even noticing. It doesn't so much 'creep up on you,' rather, it wasn't there one moment, and suddenly it is, like a slight of hand.

When she asks “please can I watch some TV now?” my automatic response is, “wow that is such a great idea, wouldn’t that be fun, but first we need to………”
This is using a child's self generated motivation and subverting it for the parent's own selfish needs. I think that’s called switch and bait at home and American’s call ‘distraction.’

I suspect, although I have no corroborating evidence, that this method of child development will lead to a generation of permanently confused children. They never have the opportunity to follow through. They are always one step behind.



Alternatively, which is probably worse, you’ll end up with a more advanced and canny child. Perhaps a generation who will be one step ahead. With senility advancing apace, I can foresee that such a scenario isn’t so far fetched.

She won’t even bother to ask if she can watch television, instead she’ll leap frog over the whole issue with “hey Mom, I have a really great idea, after I’ve finished watching my television programme, I’ll be only to happy to…..” You’ll be left in the kitchen in a state of bewilderment, knowing that you’ve missed something but unable to determine exactly what it was or how it happened?