Day Three

Day Three: what are your top three pet peeves?

1. LOUD EATERS. I can not even begin to put into words how much I loathe loud eaters. It literally gives me anxiety. When I hear someone chewing or smacking their food around in their obnoxious mouths, I want to throat punch them. I also detest people who gulp when they drink. I mean, I get it – you’re probably parched – but gulping is not necessary. If I ever encounter a loud eater/drinker while they are choking, I will have to think twice about offering help because to be honest, in the back of my mind I will be thinking that if you choke to death, at least I’ll never have to hear you eating or drinking ever again. Okay, I’m kidding. But seriously.
2. DISRESPECT TO OUR COUNTRY. I love the United States of America with every fiber of my being. I have so much respect for the men and women who serve our country and give of themselves every day just to keep me and my family safe. These men and women are the real heroes of our country. If I see someone in town that’s wearing a hat or a pin or anything that lets me know they’ve served this country, I will stop and thank them. That’s the very least I can do. Chip and I love to find military families that we can send care packages to or Christmas presents, etc. It’s a small way that I can repay them for what they do for my family and this country. When our National Anthem is being sung or when the Pledge of Allegiance is being recited, I always have goosebumps. In fact, every morning at 7:55, the Pledge is recited at work and it will never get old to me. So, when I see someone who doesn’t stand and recite the pledge or someone who sits while our anthem is being sung, it absolutely burns me up. I get it that we are all able to make that choice of whether or not we want to stand and show respect, but to me, I feel like when you don’t at least stand, it’s a major slap in the face to the people who put their life on the line every day so that you do have that choice. If you don’t like how things are being done in our country, then go out and be the change that you think we need. But do it with the right intentions. Do it kindly. Do it peacefully. If you don’t want to stand for our anthem because you think minorities are being mistreated, then let’s do what we can to make sure they aren’t being mistreated, but by all means, stand for our anthem. It’s our patriotic obligation. I could go on and on, but I should probably get to my third point.
3. DISRESPECTFUL CHILDREN. Chip and I are not perfect parents. Most days we just wing it. Becoming a parent totally rocked our world and gave us a reality check we never saw coming. We used to say we’d never let her sleep with us, and she really hasn’t since she was three weeks old, but this week I was so tired from her being up all night that I was practically begging her to just fall asleep in my bed so I could get some rest. I said I’d never let her eat in the car but I’m here to tell you that I will toss an entire bag of goldfish crackers into the backseat so fast just to keep her from screaming sometimes. Most days my car looks like a bomb made of cheese balls and puffs blew up in my backseat but she’s happy so I don’t even care. There are several things that Chip and I have had to learn to be flexible on because if not, we’d lose our freaking minds on a daily basis. That being said, though, there are also things that we have chosen to stick to our guns with. We do our best to be consistent. Morgan knows she will get a spanking if she runs across the couch. Some days the thrill of running across the couch, wind in her curly hair, feet going 90-to-nothing, outweighs the fact that she knows a spanking is coming. I think she’s gotten in trouble for this exact thing one thousand times this week. It’s exhausting at times and there have been moments when I’ve wanted to just let her run but it’s dangerous and she knows she isn’t supposed to do it. So I have to be consistent. Otherwise, I’ll have a brat on my hands who thinks that she is in charge. I have an incredibly hard time biting my tongue when I hear kids being disrespectful to their parents or adults. Morgan has to know that Mom and Dad are the boss. Not the other way around. I was at the grocery store  yesterday and I heard a little girl tell her mom that her teacher had said they weren’t allowed to bring candy to their Valentine’s Day party at school. She then went on to tell her mom that she didn’t care what the teacher said, she was bringing candy. The mom just looked at her and said, “Okay, we’ll see.” WHAT THE LITERAL HECK RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!? We’ll see? NO. The teacher said no. So no. Don’t let your kid bring candy. Bottom line. Like I said, Chip and I are fully aware that we are not perfect parents and we screw up a lot. But it is our goal that when it’s time for Morgan to leave our little nest, she will know what it means to respect others and to be kind to those around her, not demanding her way or else.And for the record, if my child is ever disrespectful or mean to you, please tell me. It won’t hurt my feelings.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Rachel