I was out at a pick-a-pumpkin family fun farm today helping with the Houston Supernanny casting call today. This is a great gig. I’m having lots of fun, I work with great people, and I coincidentally met two “cyber friends”!
Hi Stephcat and FishermansWife! I must say, you were so totally rockin’ that hand sanitizer giveaway. It was great talking about you! And I promise I really am a writer, despite using great three times so far instead of choosing a better placed adjective. So, please go find me on Twitter, @Milehimama, so I can chaw your ear off 140 characters at a time. Love me some Twitter.
It’s so funny putting faces to names. And real names to internet handles.
It’s so interesting when I talk to people about the show. About half are superflattered that I would ask them to be on TV, and the other half are mortally offended that I think they need Supernanny. Some moms were desperate to get their names in for the show; others averted their eyes as soon as they saw the logo on my shirt. Although, honestly, almost all of the families I’ve talked to I haven’t known long enough to determine if they do have a a need for a little parenting boost. They simply looked like average families with children who were old enough to talk.
Moms, relax. We’ve all had kids totally melt down. It doesn’t make you a bad parent! We’ve all had kids grab something off the shelf, whine, beg, or pout. This leads me to Mama Says #1: Children are childish. (And Mama Says #2 – So are parents, sometimes!) So, in the future if someone ever approaches you about being on TV, chances are they just thought you were a nice looking, normal family and thought they’d find out more.
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Re: Children are childish, there was a thread a week or two ago in Catholic Answers forums where a mom was looking for reassurance about her 21-month-old. He throws tantrums over trivial things. For example, she broke his banana in half, as she usually does, but he was deeply affronted this time and screamed and cried. She wanted to know what she could do about it.
And she got lots of advice about giving choices to toddlers, and how to respond to tantrums, and etc. All good advice as far as it goes. But it left something out—the biggest thing, in fact: Tantrums are totally age-appropriate for kids between their first and fourth birthdays. Toddlers throw fits, and have since time immemorial. It helps me to cope with my own toddler’s tantrums to consider them a developmental stage, like learning to walk, and therefore cute (although it introduces the challenge of keeping a straight face). On a serious note, I would hate for this young mother to feel like she is “not a good mom” or somehow failing because she can’t control her kid’s tantrums. Yeah, children are childish. Toddlers are stubborn, headstrong, emotional, and irrational. It’s natural. We can somewhat affect long-term tantrum habits by our responses, but it’s futile to try to completely prevent them.
Sounds like a fun excuse to get out and meet people! I hope that you continue to have a wonderful time.