When my now older children were young we had a small alphabet board book. For the letter "R" there was a robot. I honestly cannot say I remember for sure how the "Robot Mom" came into existence, but I know it was inspired by this book and by my children's driving me crazy. From time to time children do that to their parents and from time to time those same parents run out of patience. So in order to diffuse tense situations when mom may not be able to put herself on "time out," Robot Mom comes to the rescue. I, the real mom, go into my closet and enter a utopia through a secret passageway; the Robot Mom who looks and smells and acts and has the same authority as the real mom emerges. The only difference is that the Robot Mom talks like a robot.
One would think that this would not be too much of a bother to the children; in fact, perhaps it would be somewhat amusing. Well, my children do not always see the entertainment in the Robot Mom. They do usually stop behaving in the way that drove me away in the first place, but they do not particularly like having the Robot Mom around. The funny thing is, the older they are, the more disturbed by her they become. The toddlers and preschoolers think it is funny, but as they get a little older they begin to question their own senses and instincts and wonder, "Is this really a Robot Mom? Did my Mom really go away?" They start poking and threaten to unhook me somehow or as Estelle said today, "I'm going to pull your arms off." They search the closet for secret passageways and attempt to deactivate the robot voice. It is entertaining to me to see them question themselves. Some have even been brought to tears, unintentionally, I might add.
I think that Spencer and Taylor have finally come to a point in their development where they are able to just ignore the Robot Mom just as easily as they ignore their real Mom--they are teenagers after all. Sarah is still amused and Estelle, as I mentioned earlier, is still trying to break down the Robot. Emma, who happened to be the reason the Robot Mom arrived this morning was most definitely not amused. She was sassy and argumentative with me so Sarah suggested that I call Robot Mom in. Hoping that it would cheer up Emma I decided to make the switch.
Well, she did smile a little bit when Robot Mom was funny, but she eventually cried and said she needed her mom. I felt a little bad because I found out the reason for her disagreeableness with me actually stemmed from some problems at school. We talked about it briefly and managed to make it to school in time. She is a resilient soul and she will come through, but she is a little behind in a couple of classes and will be "attending study hall" today rather than "fun Friday." I wanted her to know that there is no shame in that and that I know she will get caught up.
I had no idea that the Robot Mom would be a part of our lives for 10+ years! I imagine the first time she came around that I had no intentions of bringing her back. But alas, she has served a useful purpose in our family life. If nothing else she saved me from yelling (as much) at my children, and my children realize that their real mom isn't so bad.
One would think that this would not be too much of a bother to the children; in fact, perhaps it would be somewhat amusing. Well, my children do not always see the entertainment in the Robot Mom. They do usually stop behaving in the way that drove me away in the first place, but they do not particularly like having the Robot Mom around. The funny thing is, the older they are, the more disturbed by her they become. The toddlers and preschoolers think it is funny, but as they get a little older they begin to question their own senses and instincts and wonder, "Is this really a Robot Mom? Did my Mom really go away?" They start poking and threaten to unhook me somehow or as Estelle said today, "I'm going to pull your arms off." They search the closet for secret passageways and attempt to deactivate the robot voice. It is entertaining to me to see them question themselves. Some have even been brought to tears, unintentionally, I might add.
I think that Spencer and Taylor have finally come to a point in their development where they are able to just ignore the Robot Mom just as easily as they ignore their real Mom--they are teenagers after all. Sarah is still amused and Estelle, as I mentioned earlier, is still trying to break down the Robot. Emma, who happened to be the reason the Robot Mom arrived this morning was most definitely not amused. She was sassy and argumentative with me so Sarah suggested that I call Robot Mom in. Hoping that it would cheer up Emma I decided to make the switch.
Well, she did smile a little bit when Robot Mom was funny, but she eventually cried and said she needed her mom. I felt a little bad because I found out the reason for her disagreeableness with me actually stemmed from some problems at school. We talked about it briefly and managed to make it to school in time. She is a resilient soul and she will come through, but she is a little behind in a couple of classes and will be "attending study hall" today rather than "fun Friday." I wanted her to know that there is no shame in that and that I know she will get caught up.
I had no idea that the Robot Mom would be a part of our lives for 10+ years! I imagine the first time she came around that I had no intentions of bringing her back. But alas, she has served a useful purpose in our family life. If nothing else she saved me from yelling (as much) at my children, and my children realize that their real mom isn't so bad.
Comments
Post a Comment