Raising Selfish

Alright my weekend ...... as a parent I failed.

Kids on the train by the entrance to the
Children's Museum in Portland Oregon

So Friday morning Alan headed off to work fit as a fiddle, but Herman and I have a slight cold. So Saturday morning we woke up with a plan to get out of the house and enjoy the awesome 60s weather and sunshine. So we got up took an assessment of how everyone was feeling and decided to adventure to the zoo.

On our way out we decided to stop and grab some lunch. Wendy's is currently the cheapest food we can buy, that feeds everyone. We usually get the 4 for $4.00 dollar meal. Misty eats the french fries and maybe a few of Humphrey's chicken nuggets when he doesn't want them. Humphrey we try to force him to eat chicken nuggets. Like we tell him if he eats his chicken nuggets we'll go to the zoo, or he'll get a frosty (because we actually have four of those little frosty tags that they sold this year) and usually he's pretty good, but not today. EVERYTHING was a deal to be struck. So we told him all the way to the zoo eat your chicken nuggets and we'll go to the zoo. Humphrey now knows how to spell zoo so in our vain attempt to conceal our final destination Humphrey figured it out. Alan was so confounded that he kept asking Humphrey why do you think you deserve to go to the zoo. This after analyzing that Humphrey failed to clean up his toys the night before. So not only did we leave the house a mess with toys thrown across the entire apartment. Humphrey also refused to eat his lunch.

Kids hard at work constructing, although one is constructing
then the other deconstructs it and makes it their own way

So all the way to the zoo, a 36 minutes drive to achieve our goal,  we kept telling Humphrey eat your lunch or we won't go to the zoo. We arrive in the parking lot, "Humphrey eat your lunch or we won't go to the zoo." We pay for parking "Humphrey finish eating your lunch or we won't go to the zoo". Wait another 10 minutes "Humphrey eat your lunch or we won't go to the zoo today". Finally Humphrey get angry and starts yelling at us and saying "I don't like you mommy and daddy."

Alan, Humphrey, and Misty

So as parents we've reached "the wall" with Humphrey. We decided fine he didn't want to eat his lunch we'll just park the car and explore all the other parks that they have in this area. The first building we walked into was the Western Forestry and Conservation Association. Which looked pretty cool to go into, but they didn't offer any sort of discount on their $7.00 entry fee, so we moved on to another location. Like the Portland Children's Museum.

Alan offered to let Misty clean his Alligator teeth. 

So we finally made it to the Portland Children's Museum. Of course this is the first time Alan has ever been to a children's museum probably since his own childhood. Luckily I had Herman in our new hiking backpack because strollers are just a bother. So we entered the museum and of course Humphrey finds the toys and Misty just follows Humphrey until she realizes she's not tied to him and goes running off. Alan gets all confused and worried. "where's Misty" she's was right there next to Humphrey, but it was still entertaining to me as a mom to watch Alan go nuts because we can't control our children. lol.

Humphrey driving the train at the enterence
of the Children's Museum

Although that being said Misty did run off away from us twice. The first time I caught her, the next time we all had to chase her down. She was in the gift shop area and when Alan walked past her she followed him and I followed her so she scampered in between us and I had to call Alan off the chase because he didn't see her as he walked right past her. But we survived the experience and didn't lose any of our children.

Alan along for the ride

Moments before Humphrey's blow out

That being said how do parents deal with the melt down child? Humphrey found his favorite room in the museum, the one with all the car trains and tracks. His first instinct take over. Not share. AND throw a temper tantrum when another child wanted to play with his area. So of course we had to evacuate that area. So as adults what do you do when you've already bent over backwards to please your children, but you realize you've lost all control? How to regain that control?

Humphrey truly is one of a kind. As most hollywood movies portray parenting is "Its awful, awful, awful, but then your kids do something amazing and it's awesome, but it's awful, awful, awful, then amazing again" I loved that quote from Anthony Anderson. because to me that is what parenting Humphrey is right now. He's spoilt which I only have myself to blame. He doesn't treat his toys with any respect, and he has so many that taking one of them away never affects him in anyway. Which is also my fault because I haven't taught him how to honor his toys, that being said for the first four years of his life my mom would just come over every week and buy him a new toy so he never figured out how to treasure his toys especially when you just get new ones every week anyway.

That being Humphrey has started to ignore me all the time now a days. Whenever I tell him to do something, the perfect example is right at this moment. I told him to clean up his toys, well at first he said no, then I said put your nose on the door, then he started cleaning up so I let it slide, but now I can hear my computer on in the background so he's no longer cleaning up his toys. Alright now we're back on track, just had to turn off the computer. Now he's all upset because he wants to watch television instead of cleaning up his toys. And of course here comes the muttering "stupid mom". Excuse me please .......

Misty driving the ambulance

Humphrey was playing the paramedic in the ambulance






So parents out there in the universe how do you discipline your kids? especially now a days with the "no spank" rules out there?




That being said because if I don't list Humphrey's good qualities Thelma will IM me and tell me that I should love Humphrey and that its all my fault for not raising him the right way in the first place.

So grown up kids how do you deal with your parents as well? lol

Humphrey's greatest qualities is He is super smart .... He plays video games with Alan and can pretty much beat up AIs, He's got a great imagination. He's super sweet with his siblings and affectionate with other children. And his parents do love him a lot and can't wait to see him as an adult and or teenager.

Humphrey chose the snake in the animal doctors office. Proud mom moment. One day we'll own a snake that we can enjoy as a household pet, either than or an iguana, or bird like macaw, african gray, Cockatoo, or love birds. 

Humphrey going to work, hard hat and all

Alan playing shadow puppets with the kids. Most of the times when we actually go to these places he finds something that he enjoys playing with. 

My selfie. I can take amazing pictures of my whole family, everyone believes it, I try and take a picture of myself and I totally hate it. Please give me some tips on taking the best selfie. I want to stop looking like a drunk high person in my pictures :( and of course little photogenic Herman on my back in our new Hiking Backpack. Everyone with strollers was a little jealous of my awesome gear. :D 

Misty finally got to write on the walls. For future note when we own our house and can put whatever we want on the walls glow in the dark walls with a special pen would be awesome. Really cool idea there. 

Hey Misty com drive the bus and take Daddy to the store

At the museum they had this cool Vietnamese exhibit that was really cool to experience. Even Alan to play a Dragon

Misty was entertained

I was sad to realize I got pictures of the kids playing in the water, but not Alan playing in the water. Alan found this little table where you could control the current of the water and make some minor rapids so he tried taking over and placing the tiles in place. I even asked him. "So let me get this right, you'll play in the water of the water exhibit, but not help in giving your own children baths even though right after that we give them lotion time? WTF?"

Misty playing in the water

Humphrey playing with the telescope in the garden area of the Museum