Originally Published November 25, 2008
Yesterday I went to teacher’s conferences and one of Sarah’s teachers- the mother of young children- said that she wanted to just sit and ask questions because my children have turned out so good! She said that we “must be doing parenting right”!
If she only knew…
Anyway, I told my children when we were sitting around the fire and they laughed and laughed! The 16 year old said, “yeah people are so surprised when I tell them how my parents fight and all the stuff that goes on here. They assume that we have this ‘perfect life’” She said if she was an only child she would be totally screwed up. Its because the children work together, support each other.
It occurs to me that they are like a union- organized to negotiate with those holding power over them. So, when I get unreasonable with one of them, the others are right there defending their sibling. At another teacher’s table, I mentioned that Sarah is really enjoying cheerleading with his wife- the coach. This teacher had Joanne too and knows that Joanne always dissed cheerleading and cheerleaders. I told him I was totally shocked that when I was reluctant to let Sarah cheerlead with the skimpy clothes and all, JOANNE came right to her defense and convinced me that I needed to let her do it.
Cheer!
And thank GOD for our firstborn, Hannah! When she was a late teenager, she told me that I need to give the children some money and let them choose some of their own clothes. She said when she was in elementary school (at a private Lutheran School) the other children would tease her and were mean. She thinks its because she was a misfit because I “dressed her up in dead old lady clothes”. Every child of mine since has had that privilege (within tight financial constraints so they are good thrift store and sale shoppers). Here are my older two daughters. Thanks to Hannah’s intervention they overcame their mother’s dumb and dowdy style. 
(see also Body Image- “extreme Mom makeover”? they haven’t done the makeover… yet )
They turned out GOOD- (which is more important than beautiful)
