Sorry, Mom!

I look around at Little Miss sometimes, and I know I'm in for it.

I've known this for years. Literally. At ten months old, she was walking. Ok, running. She would pick up one of Mister Man's favorite toys. Once she'd caught his attention, she'd hold it out to one side. If he ran towards the toy to get it, she'd clutch it to her chest, turn the opposite way, stick her elbows out and run like a star running back with the football who just deked out the defense. Ten months, people.

It hasn't really gotten much better. I describe her as having a lot of personality. She's quite the spitfire. This will definitely get her far in life, but I know I'm in for it. I'm really worried about her teen years. I never snuck out. I never drank in high school. I got straight As. My mom never had to worry about me.

People always say that your children are getting you back for what you did to your parents. Well, I was a good kid, so how is Little Miss retaliation for what I've done to my mom?

I had to think really hard about it.

I think what drives my mom the most nuts is that I want to raise the wee ones differently from how she raised my sister and I. She feels like I'm repudiating everything she does and that I don't like her or respect her. It isn't true in the least, and I feel badly that she feels that way. I've tried to explain it to her, but she tends to be a bit of a martyr. She sees what she wants to see.

She worries that by working I'm not spending enough time with the wee ones. She was the one who really pushed for me to quit my job when the wee ones were younger. She quit her job when my sister was born (15 months after I was) and stayed at home. It drives her nuts that staying at home wasn't enough for me. To be honest, I'd be ok with staying home now, but given the economy, I'm not giving up my paycheck while I have the option!

And my mom goes nuts about sleeping. There wasn't much research done on sleeping when I was a child. Sleep is important and all, but you made do. I, on the other hand, am a firm believer in sleep -- and a lot of it -- when it comes to the wee ones. It's when their brains develop, and I can see a vast difference in their behavior when they have enough sleep versus when they don't. I am constantly asking and telling my mom to let the wee ones sleep more. She doesn't believe they need it, and she hates that I question her "parenting" of my children. My parents just watched the wee ones for five days and not a single nap was taken.

And I think it really drives my mom nuts when I cook. My mom was never really a cook. She doesn't really like food and eats purely as fuel. Growing up, we'd have a gallon sized Ziploc of cooked spaghetti in the fridge that we'd eat for dinner for days on end. I cook. And I enjoy cooking. I tend to do it from scratch because I like it, and my dad I think likes much of my cooking better than the same versions that my mom makes. And yep, it drives her crazy.

As I think more on it, maybe Little Miss is payback from what I'm doing now and will do in the future to my parents -- especially my mom. That or I've really blocked out a lot of my childhood. Nahhhh! It couldn't be that!

So what did you do to torture your parents? What drove them crazy?