It was easy to judge other parents before I had kids of my own.
Oh my Gawd, that lady is letting her three-year-old chew gum!
Can you be-LIEVE those parents are allowing their children to make a mess in this [crappy] restaurant?
I would NEVER let my kids entertain themselves with an iPhone!
Man, was I clueless.
After I had children, I realized that some battles aren’t worth being late to work, stressed, and defeated. They aren’t worth getting my blood pressure up. They aren’t worth raising my voice. They aren’t worth the eye-roll.
Don’t get me wrong – some battles are worth fighting. Getting into a swimming pool without an adult. Petting a stray animal. Trolling around the medicine cabinet. Taking candy from strangers.
However, in our home, some things are not, and will never be, worth the battle. Here are eight of them.
Lipstick. A lover of cosmetics and all things “girly,” my daughter routinely invades my makeup bag and ends up looking like a clown.
I could rub the lipstick off her face, but the rage that would ensue simply isn’t worth it.
So, unless we’re going somewhere important, the lipstick is staying on.
Not worth the battle.
Hairstyling. My daughter likes to do her own hair, which entails putting a hundred bows, barrettes, and rubber bands onto every square inch of her head. By the time she’s done, she’s proud of herself, and making her take them off and re-doing her hair would shoot her self-esteem.
There’s nothing wrong with looking like a ragamuffin in public.
Again, not worth it.
Manicures at 6 am. My daughter occasionally wakes up at the crack of dawn and wants me to give her a manicure. Her preference is “rainbow” style, which means a different color on each fingernail.
As there will come a time when she is a teenager and wants nothing to do with me, as long as I’m already awake, I will happily oblige.
Not worth the battle (and so worth the memories).
Wearing Pajamas to School. My daughter has a closet full of beautiful smocked, monogrammed, and brand name clothing. What does she want to wear to school? One of ten polyester Disney princess nightgowns that were purchased at Wal-Mart.
She will not take no for an answer. If I try to put something else on her, she arches her back, scorpion-style, and it takes twice as long to get out of the house in the morning.
So, as long as she chooses a clean set, she can rock her pajamas at school.
Not worth the battle.
[/nextpage] [nextpage title=”Page 2″ ]Cookies for Breakfast. Despite having a plate full of organic eggs and farm-fresh fruit in front of her, my daughter becomes fixated on a cookie from the pantry.
As long as she first eats the eggs and fruit, I’m okay with the cookie because I know the cookie is a means to an end.
Not worth the battle.
Nighttime Snuggling. People have strong opinions about co-sleeping, but it doesn’t phase me.
When it’s 3 a.m. on a Tuesday, my husband and I have to work the next day, and our daughter crawls into our bed, saying, “Can I snuggle wiff you?,” telling her to get back into her own bed isn’t a viable option.
Definitely not worth the battle.
Tooth Brushing. Ordinarily, this is part of my daughter’s nighttime and morning routines. There are, however, occasions where she will fall asleep in the car and we have to transport her into the house and attempt to get her into bed without her waking up.
We are not going to risk a Hiroshima-esque event occurring in our house by waking her up to brush her teeth.
As long as it doesn’t happen very often, tooth brushing can wait until the morning.
Not worth the battle.
Reading the Same Book a Hundred Times. When my daughter likes a book, she can become obsessed with it.
As in, she wants to read it over and over and over again.
When it’s late at night and we are trying to get her into bed so we have a little time to ourselves, we don’t care if we read Pinkalicious every day for the last month. We are going to comply because the battle isn’t worth it.
Jeez, Pinkalicious, quit eating all the freaking cupcakes already!
Absolutely not worth the battle.
Cheers to choosing your parenting battles wisely!
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