Susan Lervold

> When we cancelled our restaurant last month, my mom said something like
"Gilles can't be the one who decides everything" - it was said out of
concern for our couple/social life.
>

When I read this when it was first posted, I had to laugh: we had a
(childless) friend say the same thing to us back when Matt was 3 and we
cancelled a dinner outing. "You can't let a three year old dictate what you
do," the friend said, very knowingly. "They have to learn how to behave in
public!"

Yeah, right.at three. Well, we cancelled that dinner, and what do you know?
Matt has grown up to be quite civilized nonetheless. They are toddlers for
only a very few minutes (in the scheme of things), and that is not the time
for grown-up dinners and sophisticated gatherings. There will be plenty of
time for those things (if you choose) later on, but not now...not today. We
arranged our life around our child's needs (still do), and that hasn't
spoiled him, that has made him a secure child whose needs have been/are
being met.

People act like today is permanent; will they never learn? Just because
your social life is limited today doesn't mean it always will be!





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