OmegaG
Posts: 1474
Joined: 10/23/2007 Status: offline
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For what ever reason, I had some thoughts pop into my head this morning... When my kids were smaller they had an instict to when I was getting on the phone and it never seemed to fail that as soon as I got on the phone they'd want to talk or start a fight or something. Got annoying enough to me I can imagine how annoying it was to the person on the other end. It got to a point where the kids were a problem and not just an inconvienince at the time. As the mom I had to set ground rules and I had to stick to them. I had to tell them up front that when I'm on the phone it is rude to fight for my attention and if they continued there would be consequenses. After that, armegedon could start in my house and I would ignore it until after I was off the phone. After a coulpe of attempts to manipulate, they got the message and allowed me the phone time. Also, there are many women around who really are looking for a new "baby daddy" and they (strictly IMO) don't have boundries between adult time and kids. They try to sell men on the whole package deal right up front and they present themselves as part of that package rather then an individual. If a man digs a woman he'll most likely decide at somepoint to get to know the kids and work with them, but when he's never allowed to see the woman in more then mom-mode then it's a bit hard for him to appreciate her as a woman And kids come in all shapes, sizes and personalities and a man may have had an expereince with kids who were vastly different then yours and he's still trying to figure out how to work with your kids or if he wants to (I have images in my head of "Are we there yet" were it was obvious that the kids were monsters, to every one but the mom). And finally, sometimes the kids needs are just to great to be able to have a social life too. If one finds that the kids seem to continue to be the reason why realaionships don't evolve then there might be a need for behaviour modification or a cebatical from dating until they pass that stage. Ooops, that wasn't final, it's also essential to make sure that one talks to the kids and makes sure that they don't harbor fantasies of mom and dad getting back together, or that they understand the mom's need for a social life and adult time (kids tend to theink they are all mom ever needs). My kids needed the reassurance for the longest time that I would not just wake them up one day and present them with an instant new family. Even now my son felt that it was important to tell me that he has a father and m'Lord wouldn't replace him. He needed the comfort in knowing that neither m'Lord or I have ever thought of making my son look at m'Lord as "Dad". enough rambling...
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. Sydney J. Harris Sex without pain is like food without taste. - de Sade
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