Thursday, January 31, 2008

It's not fair!!

Until my children learned to talk, I had no idea how all-encompassing that phrase was. I’m not talking about the legitimate meanings I attached to it as a child. I had good, solid reasons for invoking that phrase, especially when my parents didn’t agree with me.

When I told my oldest that I was writing about how often he and his siblings say, “it’s not fair!” he immediately and indignantly said, “You can’t do that, it’s not fair!”

I laughed—I couldn’t help it—and committed a major, motherhood faux pas. After telling me how unfair that behavior was, my son left the room, dragging his dignity behind him.

“Honey, I was laughing with you…really.” I suppose that will be my next post—how not to damage your child’s fragile psyche with thoughtless humor…sigh...

But...as long as I’m on a roll…I’ve listed a few sample sentences that I hear on a regular basis:

“It’s not fair that I have to clean my room—if everything is out, I never have to search for anything.”
· I know there’s actually some logic here, but the room is starting to take on an odor…

“It’s not fair that I have to share my stuff if I want to use someone else’s stuff.”
· There seems to be no age limit to this phrase…

“It’s not fair that I have to help fold my laundry!”
· “If you can’t help fold your laundry, I see no reason to do your laundry.”

“That’s not fair!”
Sometimes it’s just a vicious cycle of unfairness…

“It’s not fair that I have to feed the dogs—I did it three nights ago.”
· Major panic attack--has anyone fed the dogs during the past three days?

“It’s not fair that I have to do homework—school is boring.”
· This is my middle son’s favorite phrase—I think he assumes that by adulthood, he’ll know how to derive income from Guitar Hero.

Sometimes my children get creative and accompany “It’s not fair!” with, “You’re so mean!” or “You just don’t understand!” or, my personal favorite, “You’re ruining my life!” I think I have Lindsey Lohan and Disney to thank for that one.

Knowing my children have darn good lives, allows me to view these endearing phrases with humor and wisdom…most of the time… I’m just glad my parents never dealt with this type of anarchy—they have no idea the unfairness I suffer on a daily basis.

2 comments:

One-time runner said...

the memories this brings back...almost makes me wish I still had it to go through everyday.

Anonymous said...

when you "temporarily" removed the pictures of the beasts I thought "That's just not fair". Glad they are back... I have heard the added phrases like you are so mean and you are ruining my life lately- is the age we are approaching??? CE UT