Dork Alert

Parenting is HARD.  See, I can write a blog that is not all flowers, hearts and rainbows.

We get no instructions.  There is no manual.  But oh... there are MILLIONS of "experts", some with children and some without (how that makes them an expert is beyond my comprehension).  How anyone is qualified to be an "expert" on child rearing is also beyond me.  What's the measurement?  That your grown kids are not serial killers?  What if they grow up, are perfectly healthy and happy and work at a convenience store making $9 an hour for their entire life.  Does that parent qualify as an expert?

Who knows.

Here's what I do know.  Parenthood is messy.  It's complicated.  It's exhausting.  It's confusing.   

I will agree, however, that it is the most incredibly rewarding task a person can accomplish.  Raising children goes well beyond a full time job.  Nobody tells you that once you have kids, you will worry about them every hour of every day your entire life (even when they are grown and out of the house).  You will experience every joy and every heart break they ever have right along with them as if it were you own (while experiencing your own of course). 

This weekend little guy had a friend spend the night.  He isn't a new friend, but the first time coming to our house.  He's athletic like Coop, smart and funny.  His parents are awesome ~ although we haven't spent much time with them, when we are around them we enjoy their company.

I found myself nervous, though.  Funny, it wasn't my friend coming to visit.  But Coop, much like me, knows how to be one thing:  totally himself.  He doesn't change his behavior or characteristics to suit different people.  He is genuine, which is a giant thing I love about him.  Equally though, he can be quite a dork.  Yep.  He can.  He is a 10 year old boy!  So I found myself desperately wanting to correct him when he dorked out in front of his friend, hoping he wouldn't judge Coop as a dork therefore rendering him dorky for the rest of his school years.  How stupid is that?  Seriously, if this one kid thought Coop was a dork I am CERTAIN it would not change the outcome of Coop's adulthood.  Still, I was worried.

So I spent the better part of the evening hoping Coop wasn't TOO much of a dork for the likes of this little boy.  Oh my.  And I'm medicated... imagine that I wasn't?!

I'm not sure what drives this, but I know that I'm not the only one.  I have lots of friends that worry about their kids interactions with others.  "Are they good when they go to another's house?  Do they eat all of their food?  Do they tell the friend's parents that hubs and I have sex 6 times a day? (slight exaggeration... slight)."  Even as adults, we want to be accepted... and be extension we want our kids to be accepted, too.

Oh well.  I'm happy to announce that the friend still likes little guy.  At least for now.  Maybe being an individual truly is appreciated in this next generation? (although I'm not holding my breath...)

Happy Monday, friends!

Jen