Sit down, I have something to tell you.
That child you made? That beautiful light of your life, the reason for everything you do that you co-founded? Well, sometimes they’re going to annoy the hell out of you.
And here’s the real kicker. Wait 'til you realise why they bug the crap out of you. It’s not because you’re so sleep-deprived that you can barely string a coherent sentence together and you’re at breaking point, causing you to find irritation in absolutely everything. And it’s not because you’re set in your ways about certain things and the disruption to those ways, even when emanating from a being you adore with every ounce of you. It’s not even because you’re just inexplicably grumpy that day either.
No, it’s far simpler than that.
But WHY?!
So why then, do these children we love so much have a tendency to rub us up the wrong way to the point where we’re uttering profanities under our breath and referring to them later as lodgers that pay no rent?
It’s because those irritating little traits are oh-so-familiar. You recognise them, don’t you? Yeah, you do. Not only do you recognise them - you’re the reason they do them.
You didn’t teach them. They just happen to share your DNA and as a result, they’ve got the little characteristics and the temperament of, well, you. It’s programmed in.
Yes, I do it too!
I hate it when my son gets so excited that interrupts me when I’m talking to him because he needs to get his point out immediately. After all, god forbid he forgets it. It annoys the life out of me because I do it and I hate that I do it.
As a joke, I’ll say to my wife, “I’d love to come with you to [insert thing I don’t want to do but we both know I’m going to] but I can’t because I don’t want to.” It’s not that funny, I know that. It’s just one of those things I express, playfully, that I’m going to compromise and do something she wants.
My son has heard this too many times.
Most mornings when I tell them we need to get dressed and ready for school, I’m met with, “I’d love to do that but I can’t because I really don’t want to.”
Just like me…
I’m not sure if that annoys me or my wife more but again, totally my fault. And some things don’t irritate me but certainly concern me.
I’m a peculiar person with many weird little rituals and ticks that he’s somehow adopted as his own. He taps his head when he brushes his teeth, just like me. He won’t drink from a straw, just like me. He yells “MILK SOURCE” when we drive by cows, just like me. He won’t let his eggs touch anything else on his plate, just like me. Although, annoyingly he’s taken it one step further and has his eggs on a separate plate because he’s smart, unlike me.
Thinking about it, my poor wife has no escape from our nonsense. That poor woman. Either she has no annoying traits at all or he’s not picking any of hers up. Or could it be that I notice the ones that are mine because they’re mine and I feel responsible, guilty even, for creating this monster?
Here’s the good news
They’re not always going to be that annoying. And even the things they do that bug you at first become funny over time and then, when they eventually grow out of them and stop doing them, you miss them.
And then you’re left wondering when they grew out of them and why you didn’t.
We'd love to hear about the funny little things your children do that you're either glad they do or you wished they wouldn't. Check out our Facebook or get in touch with us at editor@careforkids.com.au
