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Kids’ independence can be hard to swallow

By Jennifer Gregory

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June 09, 2012 12:00 AM

For many years, it felt like I spent most of my day helping the kids and fixing things for them.

When Laurel or Trevor couldn’t reach something off the top shelf, they would call for help. When they wanted to watch television, they asked me to find their favorite show. And if the batteries needed changing on a toy, I was the woman for the job.

But as they have gotten older, the kids no longer call “Mom” as much and now pull a chair to reach high places or fetch a screwdriver to change their own batteries.

And recently we reached a new milestone in our house. When I turned on the TV, I got a strange error message, and no matter how many buttons I pushed, I couldn’t get my favorite reality show on the screen. Without even thinking about it, I called for Laurel or Trevor to come help me. I’ve never been technically inclined, and the kids have recently developed an uncanny ability to get any electronic device to magically work.

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Laurel was quick on the scene and confidently declared that she knew exactly what to do. She flipped a switch, pushed a button and changed the channel. She gave the rundown on what to do next time, but I wasn’t paying attention because I was sulking in the realization that my children’s technical knowledge has actually surpassed my own. I pushed the button on the remote as instructed by my 10-year-old daughter and, of course, the television now worked perfectly.

Read Jennifer Gregory’s entire blog at TriangleMom2Mom.com/usersJenniferg72/blog.

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