"Zack! Zack! He's a Lego-maniac!" --a famous commericial from back in the earl 90's.
I've never been a big fan of Lego's. I'm impressed by some of the things that can be done with Lego's... (empire state building... darth vader.. etc...). But I've always felt the end results of Lego's took a lot of imagination after the fact to resemble the real thing. Plus, I was never good at building things or following instructions. Goes to show why I dread buying any "Assembly Required" furniture from IKEA.
The biggest Lego purchase I made as a kid (and adult) for that matter... came when I was around 9-10. With my birthday money, I went to Emporium and bought a Knight's Castle. I distinctly remember having to choose between "King's Castle" and "The Black Knight's Castle." The King's Castle was bigger... more grandiose... was more righteous (it was white...duh!) but it was more expensive. The "Black Knight's Castle" was black... was smaller...and was cheaper. With mom holding us accountable for a tight budget, I didn't have the negotiations skills to squeeze out the extra $10 from her.
That night... ended up watching big bro assemble the whole thing by himself. I just watched. I don't remember if he convinced me that was a good idea so that he can have all the fun. Or was it the manager in me directing the contractor to do my work. Nonetheless.... we built that darn thing. It was amazing!! Horses...knights... swords.... a swinging drawbridge. But the next day... we disassembled the castle which instantly became humpty dumpty -- we could never put it back together again.
Flash forward 20 some odd years and yesterday, Nn wanted to buy a Lego set. I was skeptical because the box said "Ages 7+." Joyce was saying our daughter is playing toys beyond her age. I think every parent thinks that about their kids. My gut feeling was to get her some Duplo (Lego's for kids), with cute animals and characters. When we ask Nn to choose, of course she chooses the more expensive Lego set. I examine the box... and MAN!!!!... Lego sets sure got complicated. And there are pieces the size of boogers (literally, not figuratively) that can get lost a the slightest breeze of a sneeze.
And last night... guess what happened? Joyce and I assembled the Lego set and in the midst of it all... Nn was losing pieces left and right. Kids will be kids... I kind of expected that to happen. But the coup de grace is... after putting the set together, there are things I can't even begin to imagine what it is. With what looks to me like a cross-over between and ostrich and a jetski.... Joyce thinks it's actually a dog. WTH!?!?!?
"Hank! Hank! He's ain't a Lego-maniac!" --circa 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Pick your battles... Win, and I still lose
It's 320AM in California. I'm wide awake.
For the past hour, I was battling with nn. Around 2AM this morning, she started crying and screaming. It woke up the entire house and furthermore, she was spiraling into an uncontrollable cyclone of emotions. The more I tried to calm her down... the louder and wilder she got. Kicking... crying.... screaming. Albeit.... she's 2. But then again.... she's 2.
"This has gone on long enough." I thought to myself. So of all the nights... this was the night I wanted to break her. Lay down my final expectations. If you don't want to sleep.... you want to cry and scream and holler at the wee hours of the morning... if you can't control your emotions... then so be it.
For the next 50 minutes, I made her stand. Stand. No timeout. No sit in a corner. Plain old STAND.
She tried crawling back into bed... I told her "No, not until you stop crying." She got louder.... I didn't back down. She had to stand. She went to her usual kick and scream on the floor. I pulled her back up and said if you don't sleep, you stand! She screamed for mom. I said mom needs to sleep... just like everyone else including the sun. Nn pulled out every trick in her tiny 2 year old book. And I stood pat.... she had to stand.
50 minutes. That's almost an hour. We wasted an hour just letting her emotions drain away. Boy!! She's full of energy. After 50 minutes.... she was still going beserk without any signs of tiring.
Where did we go wrong as parents? Why did it have to come to this? She's 2. Did we set our expectations too high? Am I too strict? Or should I believe that this is a phase...she'll grow out of it.
Whether she crawls into bed or not.... whether she fully comprehended the magnitude of her disobedience... whether or not I did the right thing by forcing her to NOT sleep... in the end, I still lose.
For the past hour, I was battling with nn. Around 2AM this morning, she started crying and screaming. It woke up the entire house and furthermore, she was spiraling into an uncontrollable cyclone of emotions. The more I tried to calm her down... the louder and wilder she got. Kicking... crying.... screaming. Albeit.... she's 2. But then again.... she's 2.
"This has gone on long enough." I thought to myself. So of all the nights... this was the night I wanted to break her. Lay down my final expectations. If you don't want to sleep.... you want to cry and scream and holler at the wee hours of the morning... if you can't control your emotions... then so be it.
For the next 50 minutes, I made her stand. Stand. No timeout. No sit in a corner. Plain old STAND.
She tried crawling back into bed... I told her "No, not until you stop crying." She got louder.... I didn't back down. She had to stand. She went to her usual kick and scream on the floor. I pulled her back up and said if you don't sleep, you stand! She screamed for mom. I said mom needs to sleep... just like everyone else including the sun. Nn pulled out every trick in her tiny 2 year old book. And I stood pat.... she had to stand.
50 minutes. That's almost an hour. We wasted an hour just letting her emotions drain away. Boy!! She's full of energy. After 50 minutes.... she was still going beserk without any signs of tiring.
Where did we go wrong as parents? Why did it have to come to this? She's 2. Did we set our expectations too high? Am I too strict? Or should I believe that this is a phase...she'll grow out of it.
Whether she crawls into bed or not.... whether she fully comprehended the magnitude of her disobedience... whether or not I did the right thing by forcing her to NOT sleep... in the end, I still lose.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
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