We love reading stories about Junie B. Jones. Her spunk. Her absolute guile-less perspective on life. Well, I live with Junie B. -she is embodied in the actions, the demeanor and the make up of our very own Molly E.
Here is the thing about life with Junie B.
Have you ever noticed the reactions of her parents? They are always tired, always explaining, always straining to stay patient and composed when their darling (funny) spirited daughter is lost in the school, or is in trouble for with "Mrs." the teacher, or is inconsolably afraid of school bus rides or losing her tooth.
Its hard to be Junie B.'s mom.
But here is the thing about it; we love Junie in the story books. She is spunky. She is smart. She sticks up for herself and her antics make sense when we see the way she thinks through them -
and that's what I'm trying to remember. Every day that I'm Molly E.'s mother.
Someday, if we were to see Junie B. all grown up she'd be a rocket scientist or a super creative musical genius or at the very least an inquisitive television news journalist. Her inquisitive no- nonsense stick up for myself nature would prove to be her success.....if we could only see into the future of that spirited 1st grader.
So for now, when she pinches the twirp who made a face at her in line, or when she screams that she is terrified of the grasshopper that jumped on her arm in the yard, or when she dresses and acts like a princess for hours and hours on end I just keep telling myself to be patient in mothering her and, if I could read her thought process like a grade school novel it would all be really cute and funny.
Cause my daughter is Junie B. Jones.
2 comments:
We have a Junie B at our house too. I am constantly reminding myself what amazing things can become of her curiosity, independence, energy. It just is not easy to parent this individual. Entertaining it is, but only when I have the right attitude. She has taught me a lot.
Katie, I read a book called, "How to Raise Your Spirited Child" that explained these children as being just "more". More excited, more intense, more devastated, more of everything. So much of the book, I just nodded my head and thought, "Yep. True. He does that and this and that" but in the way they explained the "spirited child" I started to see a different perspective on his intense personality. And see so much AWESOMENESS in it. And I learned to appreciate how much my spirited child has taught ME. And forced me to find better ways to parent. And sometimes it's just nice to see how many kids out there have that same charisma.... or something wildly like it.
Anyway. I would recommend it to any parent of a kid like Junie B. Jones or Romona Quimby. :)
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