…Sometimes Wonders About Her Sanity!
Wearing Y-fronts on your head can sometimes work wonders.
I’m sure there are times in everyone’s lives when we catch ourselves doing something and think: “I must be stark, raving bonkers!” Unsurprisingly, with three under-fives running riot around the house, I find I’m doing this more and more.
When you have little boys, you end up doing all that little boy stuff; trains, tractors, cars – in fact, anything with wheels, including chairs! However our five year old has discovered lavatorial humour in the best Carry On… tradition, while his brother (who is now almost two) is even worse when it comes to toilets and all things personal. I now find myself doing the hilarious Let’s Pretend To Poo” Game, the Who’s Farted? Game, the What’s That Smell? Game, and the Bodily Parts Game. Oh yes, it’s a laugh-a-minute, that’s for sure!
So, when I found myself sitting on the floor on Saturday night surrounded by toys, boys and a dog, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find I was also wearing a pair of boys’ pants on my head. This was the infamous Is It A Hat? Game which my boys absolutely adore. Basically we find lots of odd things, plonk them on our heads and shout “Is it a hat?” At which point they split their sides laughing and I start thinking: “I can’t believe I’m sitting here with a pair of Y-fronts on my head, I must be absolutely crackers, and whatever happened to all those aspirations?”
The serious side of this is that it’s a very good way of engaging with my children. Generally, I suspect that disabled parents have to work harder at the whole parenting thing. I can’t run round the house after them, I can’t do as much physically as a whole, and I certainly can’t resort to physical punishment – even if Id wanted to! Too often you see parents shouting, berating and generally humiliating their offspring, the main reason being that they can.
Thankfully I can’t and wouldn’t, but what being disabled has brought me and my children is that parenting can be fun and silly and relaxed. “Don’t worry, it will wash,” is an overused phrase in our house. If I stressed over the small things, my head would probably explode. My parenting relies very much on verbal skills – both mine and the children’s. Communication is the key.
Come to my house and you will find endless chatter between me and my children, which I believe has generated much more respect on all sides. Humorous games actually allow me and my husband a lot more control over our children’s behaviour – as a rule – and, of course, it’s taught me a huge chunk of patience – something I’ve lacked for a lot of my life. So, if you find you’re tearing your hair out over screaming children, remember that putting Y-fronts on your head has worked wonders for me, and it might just do the same for you!