What We Pass Down to Our Children

We all know that we pass things on to our children. Do they inherit all of our traits? No, not necessarily. But it's highly likely that they will look like you, talk like you, do things the way you do, or have the same sensitivities as you.

In my case, there are things that I have that I passed onto KBug that I absolutely love. But there are things that I have passed onto KBug that I wish I hadn't.

Something I wish I hadn't passed on?

Her sensitive skin.

 

KBug has sensitive skin worse than I do. She's highly allergic to things that just make me itchy. My poor KBug will break out in a rash, have difficulty breathing, and sneeze all day long over the smallest little thing. She is allergic to scented lotions. She is allergic to scented laundry detergents. She is allergic to fabric softeners and dryer sheets. So all of our clothes and towels are washed very carefully in products that have no perfumes or dyes.

 

Now, I have allergies along the same lines, but not nearly as severe. But KBug takes it a step further.

 

KBug has allergies to certain fabric types.

 

At the beginning of Kindergarten, KBug started wearing uniforms to school. And their Tuesday/Thursday uniform was a light blue cotton shirt with navy blue, nylon mesh shorts. The first coupls of times KBug put her shorts on, she complained endlessly that she didn't like them and didn't want to wear them. But I just figured she was being a typical child who doesn't like her uniform.

 

Nope!

 

After those first couple of times that she was exposed to the shorts, the rashes started. Just lovely. So I tried having her wear a pair of cotton shorts under her nylon mesh shorts. And that sort of worked. The places where they cotton shorts interfered with direct contact with the nylon mesh shorts were fine, but often times they cotton shorts weren't as long as they needed to be. So we still ended up with rashes.

 

It took me a while, but I was finally able to get the principal to understand the situation and she called the local uniform shop and authorized an order for cotton shorts for KBug! I was thrilled! Life was about to get much easier on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But when we went in to pick up the shorts, they had made them in the wrong size. We had ordered a Youth Small. And they presented us with an Adult Small.

 

Now, my 32lb child was not going to fit in an Adult Small. Not by any stretch of the imagination. So after many apologies from the store, we re-ordered them in the correct size and picked them up about two weeks later. And now, a year and a half later, she's still wearing the same cotton shorts. And I think she's likely to be able to wear them through next year!

 

Here's something I passed onto KBug that I do and don't like.

 

Her incredibly high pain tolerance.

 

I have a complete love/hate relationship with KBug's pain tolerance. This child is like a tank most of the time. She's not bothered by bumps and bruises, she could care less if she hits the floor most of the time, and she rarely complains about anything hurting. Most parents would find this to be a good thing. And I am among those parents.

 

Until she has an ear that's so infected it's about to burst.

 

Yep, that's what we found out over the weekend. KBug had been dealing with a cough and nasal congestion all week, but I honestly just thought it was allergies. Because she didn't tell me anything else was bothering her.

 

Well, Friday night she started complaining that her ear was hurting a little bit. And Saturday morning she was complaining again, so off to the doctor KBug went. And the doctor was shocked by how infected her ear was. He really thought that it was going to burst by the end of the day, and in order to prevent it from happening, he gave KBug strict orders to have a quiet day and watch movies and play calmly. If it had burst, it would have been alright. She would have been ok. But who really wants to go through that? No one.

 

There have been a number of other times when she has used this incredibly high pain tolerance to her disadvantage, too. For example, when another child swung her around on the playground and smacked her leg into the play structure, causing a huge bruise on her leg. Did KBug say anything? Of course not. And another example would be when a student pushed rocks into her ears on multiple occasions, and KBug didn't say anything because it didn't hurt her. Craziness, right!?

 

So it's definitely a win-lose situation with this one. Because on one end I love it, but on the other end I don't like it and it's not always good for her health. Now it's just getting her to understand when she really needs to speak up!

 

I wonder if maybe she's subscribing to one of the motivational Marine Corps lines her father was so fond of...

 

 

What else do I love that I've passed on to KBug?

 

The need to read before she goes to bed.

 

 

KBug will not go to sleep unless she has had some sort of reading time. She doesn't care if she reads to me, I read to her, we read together or she reads book in bed to herself for half an hour. She just has to read.

 

I'm not kidding you, KBug won't go to sleep unless she's read something. She will lay in bed for hours, unable to sleep. Or she will get out of bed and turn on her light so she can read. Or she will continuously come and find me for one reason or another. KBug can't sleep if she hasn't had some book time.

 

And I love that she's a complete bookworm. I have always been a bookworm (courtesy of my mother and GMa!). And being able to sit down and read a good book has always been a pleasure for me. At 23 years old do I always sit down and read a few pages of my book every night? No. Often times I find myself falling asleep doing reading for school because that's my priority. But do I still love reading when I have a few minutes? Absolutely!

 

And I am happy that KBug has the same love for reading that I do. I am happy that she loves cuddling in my bed and reading a few pages of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I am happy that she willingly grabs books off the shelf to read to me. I am happy that reading for homework isn't a constant struggle for us like it is for other parents.

 

So, like I said before, we all pass things down to our children. And sometimes we love those things, and sometimes we hate them. And then there are times when you can't decide if you love or hate those things.

 

But, in the end, I figure....

 

 

And my KBug is awesome, no matter what!