Life in the Little Lane | 06/20/2008 5:03 pm

Life in the Little Lane: Edith Ann on Mom and Dad

By Edith Ann

I’d rather Mom and Dad yell at me than each other.

When they yell at me, it’s for my own good.

When they yell at each other, it does no one any good.

Read more about: Edith Ann, Life in the Little Lane

87 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Oh, Edith Ann, If only more Mommies and Daddies can learn from you, the world would be a much happier and saner place.

By Brooklyn Gal on 06/20/2008 4:25 pm

e-mail alert

Edith Ann You are the wisest little girl I know. It hurts children so much. Edith Ann, what can we do to make moms and dads not yell at each other?

By Frannie Em on 06/20/2008 5:47 pm

e-mail alert

Another thing. My hair day says 114 degrees. I feel like a fried egg on the hot pavement. My brother tried that, it didn’t work very well.

By Frannie Em on 06/20/2008 5:49 pm

e-mail alert

Frannie - I live just outside Berkeley and my hair day says 102 and it is just pass 5 o’clock. We in the Bay Area, or inner Bay Area, are not used to these days. Oh my, same temp scheduled for tomorrow. We are also on water rationing; have been for a over a month and will be until it rains again, hopefully by November. Oh, the joys of living in California - 38 million strong and still growing.

By Bonnie Oliver on 06/20/2008 7:19 pm

Bonnie, I am lucky, my city sits on top of a large underground reservoir, and we also purchase water. I watch my water. Not just for rationing, but it is so expensive anymore. I heard that the beach down here was going to be 110. Wild.

By Frannie Em on 06/21/2008 12:05 am

e-mail alert

bonnie, when ours gets hot, the humidity makes it feel hotter. but for now we do have water. california must be getting some of the people leaving michigan to find jobs.

By mary lou s on 06/21/2008 1:20 am

e-mail alert

Mary Lou California’s population has gone from 23 mil to 38 mil in the last dozen or so years, most of it has been migration from the midwest. Californians are definitely entrepreneurs but we are in a slump right now. We are usually the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world. People come and love the weather, it it gets too expensive, they move back.

By Frannie Em on 06/22/2008 1:50 pm

e-mail alert

I haven’t figured it out yet, Frannie, Do you have that problem to? edith

By Jane Wagner on 06/20/2008 8:42 pm

e-mail alert

Edith Ann, Maybe they should sit in the corner and take a time out. And if they are real good they can go to a movie.

By Frannie Em on 06/20/2008 11:59 pm

e-mail alert

One time, we did that. We all went out to try to have a good time which seems to be getting harder and harder. Then, in the movie, guess what, they started yelling at each other. The Actors, not Mom and Dad. The movie was “Running with Scissors”.I thought to myself, this is not a good movie for kids to see. In fact it was not a good movie for parents to see. I can’t think who that movie would be good for. I almost wished we stayed home Mom and Dad could have finished their own argument and we would have samed a lot of money. Edith

By Jane Wagner on 06/21/2008 1:25 am

e-mail alert

Edith, Yes, “Running with Scissors” wasn’t exactly a “feel good” movie. I know I feel better when I focus on positive things—movies, music, and books. Also, I’ve noticed that you are staying up very late. Is that good for you? I think that perhaps you would feel more positive if you went to bed earlier and got a good night’s rest. Serena

By Serena . on 06/21/2008 7:01 am

e-mail alert

Frannis, sounds like you may have this problem too. Edith

By Jane Wagner on 06/22/2008 12:23 pm

e-mail alert

Edith Ann Sometimes they can get going. I used to think, “what is the big dumb deal?” So somebody didn’t put the pickle jar away, or they didn’t help fix the broken things around the house. What is the big dumb deal?” It is like each one of them has a script that says ‘I’ll never be good enough’, and the other one just keeps reading it back to them. They get madder and madder and just keep reading each other’s scripts back and forth. That is why they need a time out. Just enough time to stop reading each other’s scripts. My mom used to say that she married her perfect needle, and she didn’t want to get needled anymore. (No pun intended, I don’t think she called him a prick). Uh Oh, I can hear my brother, he says I am going to get into trouble because he is going to tell on me that I said prick. Well, where did he think I learned it, if not from him. I better skeedaddle because he can make a story sound worse than it is.

By Frannie Em on 06/22/2008 1:41 pm

e-mail alert

No, Carol, I’m worried they may have learned to yell form me. I think it’s usually all my fault . That’s why they just might as well direct all their complaints to me, not to each other, cause it’s almost always about something I did wrong. Don’t think I’m trying to get sympathy.But it feel good when I get it. Edith

By Jane Wagner on 06/20/2008 8:54 pm

e-mail alert

Author Neil Waldman recalled how his first grade teacher told her students that they must write an entry into their writing journal each night. He sat in his room not knowing what to write. His first entry came to him later that night. “Mom and Dad are yelling. I am sad.” They might have been yelling about him, or maybe not. But it made him sad too. But, if your parents just yelled at you, you might grow up to be a guest on Dr. Phil, or worse play Juno with your teenage girlfriends. Maybe you should just show your parents what you wrote. I think they would appreciate seeing it. Do you think the reason you do “wrong” is because you are sad about something else?

By Brooklyn Gal on 06/20/2008 10:30 pm