Kiss and Tell?

Dear Hurricane Hamza,
Today you ‘kissed a girl and you liked it..I hope her mother don’t mind it!’

-one day when you read back on this, the above line will either have no context for you or you will probably tell me how ‘old school’ that is.

 Anyway, we all said, ‘aahh cute’ while watching you smooching a little 14 month old blond, toothless girl in the plastic doll house at our play group- in between sipping on pretend tea.

-It also got me thinking about the future though.  You are going to grow up, go through the teen years, be interested in girls- and I don’t know if I will ever be ready for that.

You see, at the moment it’s cute and sweet and people kind of pat you on the back because your child is so polite and loving. Fast forward 10 or so years and the mom’s daughter won’t be singing your praises as much- and neither will I!
I know you will get married and have babies and I will make a concerted effort to not be one of those Mediterranean moms who hate your wife and cry that you are deserting me on your wedding day. BUT- until then, I kind of pray that you will stay away from the ladies as much as possible.

I’m not sure if I’m cut out to deal with teenage trampy girls writing you love letters , or even knowing how to shape your character where respecting a women is concerned.

It’s that old notion of girls being so precious and keeping them locked away. Boys on the other hand are encouraged to date and be interested in women, it makes them appear mucho and manly-and it’s the idea of ‘if all else fails you can just pull of your pants and walk away’ that scares me to death!

How do I show and teach you differently to what you will be bombarded with by friends and media without putting a chastity belt on you and opting for home schooling?!

Tell me in 15 years if I succeeded.

The Crazy Things I Do To Get You To Eat

Dear Hurricane Hamza,
- I wish you would eat

You haven’t been yourself for a few days. I can’t tell if you sick or teething, but getting you to eat a meal is such a challenge. You seem happy to snack on cereal bars and chips (who doesn’t) but a home cooked meal, filled with nutrition, you spit out at me or refuse to open your mouth for.

Today after trying mountains of different meals, you went to the cupboard and grabbed yourself a dry block of Weetbix! To my horror and shock, you ate it making all the sound affects you usually do when eating something yummy.  I’ve resorted to trying to count nutrients in the bits and bobs of strange things you eat and decided that you needed some protein with your carbs. 

Out came the Peanut Butter and I could breathe a very small sigh of relief that you had a semi complete (although no quote conventional) dinner.  

 We are at a challenging stage, you and I. the reason for your seemingly loss of appetite could be due to so many things. You could just be sick or teething- bit this feels like the excuse used all too often by parents and extended family when they done know the answer to a child’s change in behaviour. Your growth rate could be slowing down and so you no longer need to eat like horse you used to eat like-OR-and this is the one I’m leaning towards, you could be using food as a manipulating tool, by which to drive me crazy with.

 I have a feeling -that being the bright spark that you are, you have figured out how stressed it makes dad and I when you go days without eating and enjoy the fuss and attention of us making a million different meals and jumping through hoops to get you to open your mouth.

No matter what the books say about not stressing or making a fuss when your child doesn’t eat, as a parent it’s impossible to put on that poker face.

I only want the best for you- I want you to be able to grow, learn and sleep comfortably and I know you need food to do all these things. Come o my boy open wide!

Introducing the Start Attraction

DEAR HURRICANE HAMZA,

Today was fun filled and full of adventure. You are so active now, keeping you safe and out of harm’s way has become quite the challenge. You are so resilient though and even with every bump and bruise you pick yourself up and carry on seeking out the fun.

Running, jumping, climbing, digging, chasing, laughing and a whole lot of unpacking!

I hope and pray that the positive ‘pick yourself up’ attitude that have now in your toddler year, you take with you into your adult years. Life is hard and the scrapes and pains that you are experiencing now when you misjudge a leap or slip while rushing over something too quickly will continue to act as little annoying hurdles. But if you keep your chin up and don’t sweat the small stuff, everything is bound to always work out.

Love, Mom xx