by elizabeth farina
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Spring weather sometimes makes it hard to focus, especially when one really would rather play than go to school. I know who is at fault for not establishing a normal morning routine – unless you call the mad dash for the door while brushing teeth, getting dressed and eating a pop tart in the car a good routine. The frustration has become unbearable in trying to wake up the little one and arrive at school on time. Usually, I’m ready to go; and the child under five-feet tall is looking for anything to do but get ready for school. “It’s boring,” is a common phrase I hear after prompting the child for the umpteenth time to brush her teeth. “But I want to play,” is another phrase that is heard. My response, usually, is “Get ready for school and if there is time left, you can.”

However, this morning was later than usual and the quick race against the clock turned into a five-second shouting match followed by “I’m sorry.”

We usually start our day over at that point – “Good morning, little one. I love you.”

“Good morning, mommy. I love you too.”

So, we headed to the road a little calmer with one eye on the clock. Since we had a few minutes to spare in travel time, I shared the famous Aesop fable of the grasshopper who only wanted to play while the ants worked hard on storing up for the winter (grant it Disney’s “A Bug’s Life” kind of deflated the tale for modern times). Thinking that the story would be perfect for a child to understand the importance of being prepared, working hard and playing later, inwardly I was thinking ‘what a great parenting moment.’ Yep, I was hitting the highlights of how irresponsible the grasshopper was to just play the fiddle and not think of the future and how the ants were smart at planning their future so they could play after the work was done.

As we approached the school, I asked her what she thought was the moral to the story – “I’m glad we’re not bugs.”

This was just one of many times my child has shown me her point of view through uncensored thoughts. Although I shared that the story can be applied to people too in any situation, I appreciated her answer. I’ll appreciate it even more when the little butterfly I love so dearly wakes up on time and gets ready for school, minus the whirlwind attitude.

I welcome any parent to share their advice, frustrations and outcomes. Please include contact information so we can talk about how to share these tidbits without socially mortifying our kids. E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or post it to PO Box 420, Midlothian, Va., 23113. Looking forward to hearing from you.