The leash.
Really, I'm quite proud. Up till now, we were able to play a pretty good zone defense. But this guy right here, he is just too fast, too unpredictable, too unafraid of peril.
I love him too much to let him jump in front of a moving to car, to let him ride a kangaroo at the zoo, to let him steal from Target.
And it turns out, he kinda likes having a monkey on his back, even in the lashing rain of the city market. Our kids, they've got the Irish resilience.
So, did you leash up your kids? Or are they more of the free-range variety?
I like to think I'm the "free-range" variety but when needed I will pull out the monkey leash. Thankfully our son loves it. Sometimes he'll even hold the tail and walk himself always staying near us. lol.. At first I felt guilty & self conscious wondering what people would think but thankfully it hasn't been an issue.
ReplyDeleteAsher does frequently say, "Let go of my tail!" You and I seem very similar in our parenting vein. :)
DeleteI free ranged where free range worked, but it doesn't work everywhere. I also had three boys in four years, and two of those have ADHD. I leashed - back in the days before leashes had monkeys. They looked like leashes.
ReplyDeleteOne lady shot me a dirty look in a mall with my two on leashes, one strapped to my back, and two daycare kids in the double stroller. She commented to her friend in a loud voice something about "treating kids like dogs". My sons heard her. "Doggies?", they said, "doggies". Then they ran around at the end of their leashes barking furiously and panting like dogs with their tongues stuck out and laughing.
They were too young to know it was an insult. To them, leashes were freedom from holding the hand. Freedom to explore to the end of their leather strap. Even freedom to pretend they were doggies.
I think I'm the same way (free range if possible, if it doesn't work find something that does). That's too bad about the woman's comment. Matt mentioned to me that he needed to go for a job, and I said, "leash up Asher and take him for a run!" He looked at me like I was kinda crazy, but on the first leash day, I definitely did a lot of running to keep up with him!
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