A few days ago as I was cruising about the village (because we live in villages not towns in this state), I passed by a mom who was walking her son to school and carrying his backpack.And I thought to myself, “Self, when your kids are older, walk them to school.”
And then I remembered the better point and thought to myself, “And Self, don’t forget to carry their backpacks.”
What a loving gesture. That way your child can feel a little lighter and peppier on the way to school. (And more easily stop to smell flowers, examine bugs and tie shoelaces.) That way your child knows that you care enough to carry her burden, albeit a Cartoon Network-emblazoned one. But that’s another story … for Wednesday, perhaps?
Which reminded me of an acquaintance I had who told me his mom used to cut two oranges in half and put one half from each in her two sons’ school lunches, just in case one of the oranges tasted better than the other. That way they both got a shot at a perfect orange and some relief if one was overripe.
Another acquaintance told me her mom used to throw towels in the dryer right before her kids got out of the bath or pool so that they would be nice and toasty … which is pretty much genius unless you are getting out of a pool in July in Arizona, in which case chilling the towels would be more refreshing.
My parents did their fair share of “perk” parenting. During his Chinese cooking phase, my dad used to send us to school with brown bags filled with homemade wontons, which tasted delicious and made me the coolest kid at the lunch table. My mom on occasion would surprise us at school and take us out early for something fun, like a new movie or a special lunch.
And now I find myself trying to develop some perks for Miss Dub and her siblings. (Two more? Or dare I try three?) Some ideas have included nights where each kid gets to pick a fave food and we eat them all together – even if mashed potatoes and cinnamon rolls sounds repulsive. Or letting them pick out my outfit for the day, no matter what it looks like.
What are some of your favorite parenting perks?
(Whether instituted by you, your parents or your cousin’s best friend’s hairdresser’s mailman.)
Dish.
Dish.
18 comments:
Good Morning Mrs. Dub & Miss Dub, I like the idea of "Perk Parenting". I never really thought of it that way. I do remember my mom spotlighting 1 kid out of 7 during the week. We were recognized for something extra special we did during the week. She called it the "Red Letter Day"(don't know why). She had special dishes we would eat from too (they were red, of course. It was pretty....special.
Our jewel of a mother once created the coolest menu of exotically named leftovers. She let us pick from Slippery Snakes with hot lava or fluffy clouds with slimmey mud (something like that) and served us the strange combinations we came up with. Often she would serve us at a drive up window (sliding glass door) while we cruised the "traffic" paths on our big wheels and bikes. She was indeed the queen of parenting perks. If we told her where and when she'd even help us cut school once in a while.
I love parenting perks--often they become great family traditions. On our especially warm summer nights (cue jeers from the Arizonans), my Dad would forego bedtime and instead take us to the Yogurt Affair in our jammies(remember the frozen yogurt craze of the 80's?). I remember scarfing a concoction of waffle cone, fro-yo, and gummy bears in bare feet waaaay past my bedtime. Dreamy.
I hope I'm a perky parent (in more ways than one!) I hope I'm silly and light-hearted - the more the better with mothering, I think. My mom's little perks always seemed to do with food . . . like one April Fool's day she'd make "mud and worms" which was a delightful cup-ful of chocolate pudding, crushed oreos and gummy worms. Then there were pizza parties where we got to build our very own awkwardly-shaped pizza and pile with too many toppings. We never ate more than a few bites but it sure was great to eat a pizza happy face or soccer ball! My fave non-food mama perks have to include bedtime stories read over and over and over and sleeping in the tent in our backyard in the summertime.
For our 8th birthday, we got to go on a "Triple Treat" with our parents and NO siblings, and we got to pick any 3 things that we wanted to do (usually dinner, a movie, & dessert). For me, it was Chuck E Cheese, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Marie Callenders. I always wished we had done it more often.
my parents were awesome at this. we had "parker day," which was 18 april, the day of their first date. it was always special, and once they surprised us, took us out of school, and drove to disneyland. it rocked. my dad always made specially-shaped pancakes, per our requests, my mom liked to surprise us with new outfits on our beds after school every so often, let us stay home for "personal reasons" quite often, etc.
the other day, i surprised audrey and brought her bike to school so we could all ride/walk home together. i'm still working on specific traditions with my kids, and your readers' ideas are all great ones! my kids do lead a pretty fun life, though, if i do say so myself.
What a beautiful idea! Childhood memories should be full of these little "perks." (In our house we CELEBRATE every holiday. It's one way to give my kids something to look forward to).
Awww, I love these (I'm totally stealing the anniversary of the first date thing!) Our family did similar things, so I won't repeat...but to expand on Mrs. Dub's wacky food motif...my friend Callie's Mom has a fun Valentine's tradition. Everyone in the family tells ONLY the Mom one item they would love to have for dinner. The menu ends up looking something like "Steak, fried pies, spaghetti, marshmallow fluff, french fries, etc."
i remember my mom meeting me at villa park elementary school to walk me home....and she definitely carried my backpack. i LOVED it.
I know, that even now, into my third decade of life, that I can expect a call from my mom at any time asking where I am and if I'm ok.
It's ten o'clock at night, do you know where your children are? My mom does!
i just look back and think how my mom was always willing to provide a good time. drive in movies, creating our own model shoot, or just renting movies and laying a sheet in front of the tv to eat on...ahh good times.
Fun topic... my dad would take us out for "daddy daughter dates" and my husband does the same thing for my kids now; each of the four kids takes turns for "night out with dad" and they do some fun activity & a usually a treat. Sometimes it's just a trip to Target or something, but with four kids so close in age, some one-on-one time with dad is important and a lot of fun for them. Also, I like to leave occasional fun surprises in my first grader's lunchbox; a special treat, etc. and I imagine him opening it up and showing his friends what a cool mom he has... at least I hope that's the result!
I wish my mom did exotic leftovers!! That sounds awesome.
I think that is nice to walk them to school and kick rocks along the way.
My Perk parenting is when Em leaves in the evening for something we have cooking time (usually muffins or corn bread). Its been such a hit for the last few years that Max can't wait for Em to leave sometimes!!!
We also like to make a good breakfast on Saturday mornings since Dad is home for breakfast. We usually make custom shaped pancakes. (A Turkey Baster works well to design them in the pan!)
ohhh my gahssh.
eden is so cute.
i bet shes even cuter in real life.
i need to make my parents send me out east for a while.
perk parenting....hmmm...when you come home and your mother has totally rearranged your bedroom, making it super cute and WAAAY clean. (it so needed the cleaning.)
:)
I'm afraid that little Ms. Dub will have a "perk" for every day of the week. That's just how great the Mrs. is. Even now Mrs. Dub makes Ms. Dub's favorite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I wonder how long she can keep that up. It might be a bit awkward when she's older.
As soon as I weighed enough to sit in the front seat, my dad would let me shift the gears with my left hand... thats "how" I learned to drive stick (well not really... but thats a fun memory from when I was a kid)
My mom also spent copious hours writing letters to myself... and my siblings when we were in HS... letters of encouragement, love, praise and the occasional reprimand. We are better for it. She also brings me Hostess Raspberry filled powdered donuts in her carry on bag when ever she comes to visit because I can't find them in H-town!
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