Saturday, August 20, 2011

Me version 1.1

Those who know me and my wee family know that our nearly-three-year-old daughter looks nothing like me. Well, to be more precise, she looks just like her father but she has her mother's eyes (yes, like Harry).

What I didn't give her in terms of physical attributes, I made up for in the personality area. She is a serious, introverted and slightly OCD-like little girl. At the age of 2, she pays a great deal of attention to detail, is a bit of a perfectionist and (as much as I hate to say this) legalistic.

As excited as I am to see myself in this kid, I also hope she doesn't "inherit" my flaws. So of course, like the paranoid creature I am, I have put a few steps in place to help her not have these "issues"

Reptile phobia
I'm sure there must be some kind of scientific name for this, but I hate reptiles, in particular the type that slither and are represented by Voldemort's second-to-last horcrux. Yes, those things-that-shall-not-be-named on this blog. *Shiver*
I let Lyla watch Diego, the Latino animal rescuer, Dora the Explorer's cousin. His show features a lot of these little buggers *ew ew ew*. So when Lyla is happily following Diego's instructions to slither like one-of-them, I try not to spew or faint or run away or turn off the TV. And when she's in the bath and decides to make one-of-those out of her wash cloths ... I don't panic and run from the bathroom screaming. I just die inside.

Fear of bodies of water
Yes, I did grow up on an island. In fact, I lived about 100 metres from the beach. And the drive to school and back every day was along the coast. But I don't like bodies of water, from about the size of a filled laundry basin (getting goosebumps).
So we give Lyla baths at night, and let her spend time alone in there. So far she loves it. She tells herself stories and plays with her bath toys and if I let her have a wash cloth she would sometimes even start scrubbing the bath (oops...not that it's grimey or anything).

Unsportiness
I suck so much at sports I can't even play the video game versions. So every time Lyla brings a ball to me and says she wants to play basketball or soccer or whatever the Bubble Guppies are playing, I happily join in. Never mind that I lack basic knowledge and basic skills, she could be the next best [insert sport with heaps of money to be made] player. I will not be the one who stood in her way.

Fear of heights
Ok, I know what you're thinking, I have a lot of issues and may need professional help. That's not the point, but thanks for your concern (email me any recommendations..ahem).
Lyla loves climbing. At her previous daycare, they identified this very early on, from when she just started learning to walk, and they really encouraged her to climb unaided (koikiki pe lo'u faku the first time I saw her on the jungle gym!). I myself prefer to stand on solid ground (i.e. am scared of heights). Taking her to the playground is such a struggle because it takes everything in me to not hold her completely while she's climbing these ridiculously high and tricky bars / ropes. When she's old enough I'll take her to one of those indoor rock climbing things. She'll love it. Me...not so much.

The list could go on forever, but pretty much the gist of it is that I would like to break the cycle with me. I want her to be like me, but be an even better version of me. With known bugs resolved and some flashy enhancements added - Me v1.1

5 comments:

Adeleina said...

What an awesome post! :)

Lani Wendt Young said...

What a good mother. Lyla is blessed to have you.

Its interesting how we pass on out fears/dislikes onto our children, even if we didnt mean to. None of my kids eat peas,pumpkin,cooked carrots. Why? well cos i hate them and so i never cooked them.Im terrified of dentists - so when the dentist told my then 5 yr old son that he needed to pull out a tooth? I burst into tears cos i was so scared. My son was very confused because HE wasnt scared at all...

This post is further confirmation that we haev some kind of psychic connection. I am terrified of snakes, i suck at sports, and I fall down at the mere mention of heights. Oh yeah, and i cant swim.

Your psychic sister.

Laura said...

Aww gaardy you and Lali! Go Bina for letting her watch and play with the things-that-shall-not-be-named. Eek!

I would die inside watching her play [dangerously] in the playground!

Coconut Girl said...

Hahaha yes we all hope our mini-me's will be more polished, refined versions of ourselves. Lol @ scrubbing the bath. My kids do it all the time. In fact I encourage it. Soon I'll have them mopping floors :)

Have a good weekend Lyla.

Donna said...

This post reminds me of that Enid Blyton short story... The one where all the kids are scared of certain things only because their parents are. Those parents needed to take a leaf out of your book Bina!
And thankfully I don't have to worry too much about Nati being unsporty, Gus's family will take care of that ;)