{"id":80,"date":"2019-02-21T20:32:18","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T02:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=80"},"modified":"2019-02-21T20:54:15","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T02:54:15","slug":"fostering-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"Fostering Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a parent I\u2019ve worked incredibly hard to instill a sense of independence in my child. My mother did it for me and it\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m most committed to as a mother. I genuinely worry that I make life too easy for her because I live and die by the theory that not only does struggle make you stronger, it makes you smarter. I have had enough struggle to have graduated college with honors…which as a former boss told me, means I didn\u2019t have enough fun when I was younger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I grossly miscalculated is that my focus to foster independence would mean I have a toddler that takes picking out her clothes every morning VERY seriously. This morning I ran eight, I wish I were exaggerating, eight outfit options by her. Her feedback on my pairings were less than stellar and she opted to go with the same outfit she wore yesterday (Minnie Mouse tutu dress with sparkly leggings). Lucky for me (literally because she would have punished me) her favorite dress was in the dryer. I dutifully ran downstairs to the dryer to select her desired attire and she approved of my presentation. We finalized her wardrobe choice with the same enthusiasm that a celebrity reserves for red carpet ensembles and then came hair and makeup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t actually let my three year old wear makeup (because I don\u2019t even wear makeup), but that girl rocks painted fingernails every day of her life (if you\u2019ve ever noticed mine…she didn\u2019t get that from my stress induced nail biting DNA). With her sparkly pink nails drying, her hair was ready to be tamed. We discussed the perks of pig tails vs braids and ultimately landed on her natural banana curls and a purple puff barrette that matched the purple dots on her dress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At what point does she become a liberal feminist from my years of fostering independence in her? I actually need to know.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m hanging on for dear life at this point with the false patience of a saint. At some point we shift from using this independence to make us an hour late for preschool and work to something more profound, correct?! That is a thing…right!? Should I be making her life harder? Maybe feed her regular avocados instead of organic?<\/p>\n

And please feel free to notice her subtly flipping me off in the thumbnail photo attached to this blog post of her in her desired fashion ensemble…because as any super model can attest, you should never respect the help. But I swear if she throws a cell phone at my face, I will burn every one of her tutus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a parent I\u2019ve worked incredibly hard to instill a sense of independence in my child. My mother did it for me and it\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m most committed to as a mother. I genuinely worry that I make life too easy for her because I live and die by the theory that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/34BD0B09-063C-4DBD-B0D4-EE811AF87582.jpeg?fit=1536%2C2590&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9th7P-1i","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=32","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":0},"title":"Reluctantly My One and Only","date":"April 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had big plans for my daughter and her sister. Our family of four would section hike the Appalachian Trail every year, culminating at the summit of Mount Katadhin the summer before my oldest left for college; my girls would backpack through Europe together as they got older, and my\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/DSC_0903-Edit-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=54","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":1},"title":"And then the tears came...","date":"August 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I once had to drop my niece off at school. We were halfway down the block when she let me know she wasn't wearing shoes. When we arrived at her school (with her shoes now on thank you very much), I was thrown into the savage world of school drop\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/First-day-of-school-e1535421460484.jpg?fit=353%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=86","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":2},"title":"Full blown","date":"March 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the face of a woman in the middle of a full blown panic attack. I haven\u2019t had one in a really long time but tonight out of left field I lost the daily struggle to keep the crazy in check. My kid was sweet today, my husband was\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/7DFA798E-AB64-4903-9497-9EC85CC63AAC.jpeg?fit=902%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=59","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":3},"title":"It's enough to make you crazy","date":"October 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I workout before meeting with my therapist because quite frankly my insurance company isn\u2019t paying for me to cry so hard I can\u2019t talk for an hour...which is what happened the one time I didn't exercise before I stepped into her office.\u00a0 Exercise has always been my second favorite form\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hh-pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=74","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":4},"title":"Helpful Hot Mess Mom Hacks","date":"November 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I can\u2019t physically or mentally follow a linear path whether that be in cleaning my house, trying to buy healthy foods without bankrupting our retirement at the grocery store, or doing math. It also means that my husband and child operate under that same chaotic methodology. Kevin hates it.\u00a0 While\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/00AB73B9-0F0B-4FBF-9A91-35BB3F9E7D66.jpeg?fit=967%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/?p=103","url_meta":{"origin":80,"position":5},"title":"Chapter 1","date":"January 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just kidding. I didn't start writing a book, but I have done a lot of thinking about writing lately. I've thought\u00a0about how I love\u00a0to laugh about the absurdity of life and then share those stories with others. I've thought about how people don't love that I swear when I write\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypotheticallyhappy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}