OOPS!

I try, and would like, to approach being a parent as all about 50/50 compromises. Admitting readily that most the time I am probably taking more of that percentage, but all in all I have to give Stephen some slack. When you try to meld two different ways of growing up into one type of parenting style it can be tricky. Building a few houses and just plain buckling up in the car can make for a lot of interesting conversations around our house – especially when safety is concerned. For all you Baldwin readers out there you can relate to growing up in a home where we were bandaged up immediately after a small cut and given a treat to help us feel better. My mom was and still is (if not even more) the sympathy queen! Stephen talks about growing up having rock fights with his brother, getting run over by a car, and driving a backhoe at age 8. Don’t get me wrong I’m positive the Parkers were compassionate, but you had to really be hurt or sick to go to the doctor! So now we are parents trying to figure out a happy balance in kid land. So now it seems we have come up with rules – like “You can help shingle the roof (Stephen’s %) if you sit in the designated area (my %)” or “You can use the chop saw, if a grown up is right by you.” I give you the background so that you can understand why I have succumbed to letting my kids help shingle the roof, use large power tools, and most recently standing back to watch Mason drive a TRACTOR! Here is the end result of the latter! Stephen quotes his dad as saying, “Education is not free”. In this case we are just happy is didn’t cost more! And mom, if you’re reading this- Mason didn’t get hurt, just the garage!