
On Friday nights I make pizza and we all watch a movie together. It's a fun tradition. Last Friday Tom was out of town, but we went on without him. My three big kids were settled in watching their show of choice, while I finished patting the pizza dough into the pans. That's a job I cannot do one-handed, so I brought a fussy Ansley in to those same big kids who are big enough to tend their baby sis. Even Eden is capable of lugging and tending Ans when she wants to.

But as is typical, all three were glued to the screen and their feeble attempts to entertain and distract Ansley were in vain. Soon she crawled back to me and was clinging to my knees. What is wrong with this picture?, I wondered.
Then I had a flashback...back to twenty-some years ago. I could see myself, with my sisters, sitting in front of a TV as we watched
Wheel of Fortune, or
The Cosby Show, or some other riveting progam.
My mom would call from the kitchen, "can someone watch the baby?" When no one responded, the baby would be brought to us TV-watchers...but again, babies can tell when they are second-priority to a television screen. Soon my baby brother would find his way back to his mama, the only truly loyal caretaker; one who would actually stop what she was doing to pay attention to him.
I guess I can't be too hard on my own children for this one. I remember what it was like.
And what really made this particular occurrence feel like deja vu, was the fact that my kids were watching
something I could have been watching back in my childhood...old episodes of The Brady Bunch on DVD! Some things never change--like how captivated kids are by quality television programs.

But it's not like this is an isolated event at our house. It happens frequently, and I remember the same thing happening when Eden was a baby, too.
Here she is at 14 months assuming the position--"Mom, everyone else is ignoring me. So don't just stand there cooking in your Denver Broncos apron...hold me!"

Seriously though, these little incidents are good for me. I need to remember that kids are just kids. I can't expect them to be perfect. Apparently I was selfish and inconsiderate on occasion as a kid (still happens:)...and it's reasonable to assume they will be as well, from time to time.
But even still, sometimes I expect my kids to be above such traits. I want them to be better than me! And often times,
they are. That's what I've got to remember. They are great little people; and they definitely take their turn baby-sitting. I cannot complain.