Kick in the Pants

At the gym this morning as I was waiting for a class to start, I watched a fellow gym goer chase down her very active toddler son.  He darted into a room he didn’t belong and she had no choice but to follow.

She was exasperated and embarrassed.

Two ‘E’ words I have come to know and love over the course of raising my boys.

I said to her, “He reminds me so much of my boys.  I know exactly how you feel.”

She smiled blandly at me, squared her shoulders and finally overtook her little one by sheer force.

Looked like a typical Thursday morning to me.

Another member said, “So your boys were like that at that age?”

“Yes.  In fact my older one was about 100 times more active than that.  This kid is more my younger one’s speed.”

“Isn’t it great?,” she asked.

I looked at her and paused.  She was older, closer to a grandmother’s age than my own so she clearly had some experience to back up this question.

My pause made her continue.  “Wouldn’t you rather have kids full of life and personality than a kid who is dull and boring?”

And for the first time in my life it dawned on me that the answer to this question is a resounding ‘YES!

So remember that when you are about to lose it.

Or more likely, when you are beating yourself up over some behavioral misdeed of your perfectly normal, perfectly acceptable offspring.

Spirited kids are the ones who kick life in the pants.

I’ll take two please and hold the boring!