Vicarious Childhood

You have to admit, one of the best things about being a parent is living a vicarious childhood through your children--either your own, or the one you wish you'd had.

Lucky for me, I had a pretty awesome childhood, so I like living my own childhood vicariously through my children. Though I have had my moments of vicariously living the childhood I wish I'd had, like when I bought Kate an Easy Bake Oven for her birthday one year.

In any case, this is what I was thinking about just now as Brandon woke me up from Elizabeth's bed after I put her and Rachael to sleep. (It was my turn tonight, and this is what always happens--I put myself to sleep in the process.)

Yep, from listening to songs from Annie, Sound of Music, and Mary Poppins this morning in the kitchen while making breakfast and lunches, to the Ants-on-a-Log I made for those lunches, to singing "Oh, Susanna" to Rachael for her bedtime song, to reading one of my all-time favorite children's books to both of them (Strega Nona), I think I probably do more of this vicarious childhood living on a regular basis than I realize.

I don't think we actually owned Strega Nona when I was little, but I remember reading it at the Horace Mann school library. And that reminds me of another childhood memory. Who remembers this guy from those educational movies you had to watch in the library on bad weather days?

Do you think I could get my kids to watch some old youtube videos of this guy? (They would be as creeped out as I was as a child. Again, vicarious living.) He's right up there with School House Rock, don't you think? (And does anyone reading this who may have gone to high school with me think this guy strangely resembles Eric Sarno? . . )