Fun Friday – Parenting and The Oscars – how are they similar?

The Oscars - photo credit

“…and the winner is…” Do you sometimes wish you could hear those few words after a tough day of parenting? With the Oscar awards coming up, I thought it would be fitting to take a look at the relationship between The Oscars and parenting.

An Oscar for parenting may sound like this –“In the category of accomplishing the most tasks in a day, the winner is ______________; For her strength and energy in washing a load of clothes, folding the towels, unloading the dishwasher, responding to emails, and dressing herself presentably – all before leaving the house to run other errands.

So how is parenting like the Oscars? Take a look.

·         Both can be a nail biting experience

·         Both require determination and drive

·         Both can be rewarding and challenging at the same time

When you think about the above similarities of the Oscars and parenting, I bet you can come up with a situation that relates to each point. Take a minute to think about it…ok time is up. Here is one of my stories.

I was working an afterschool program the other day when a winter storm began. It started out as gentle snowflakes drifting from the sky, and then turned to rain and slush with the threat of freezing. After a couple of hours, I realized it was time to call and see if my teen son made I home safely after basketball practice. This is his first year driving in winter weather conditions.

It was 7pm, I knew basketball practice should have ended by 5pm. I made the call.

“Are you home yet?” I yelled through the loud background noise blaring from his end of the phone.

“No, I’m at the girl’s game,” he yelled back.

I looked out of the window of the recreation center where I work and told him, “You need to leave now!” My face would have been ashen if my skin wasn’t so dark. My son was enjoying himself at a girls’ basketball game while I was frantic about the danger of him driving home on dark, slippery back roads. It was a nail biting experience.

Since I shared a challenging story, I must also share a rewarding one. It was a cold night outside, but warm and fuzzy inside my heart on senior night during my son’s basketball game. The athletic director announced each senior player and cheerleader and their escorts. My son and I walked onto the floor with an arm around each other and smiles on our face.

Senior night was like a night at the Oscars for my son and me. He had a high scoring game of 19 points and I was his biggest cheerleader. And the basketball team won the division championship.

 

 

How has your parenting experience been similar to The Oscars?