Is my laughter bad parenting?

The Penis Chronicles presents “Is my laughter bad parenting?”

I watched. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The boys were bike riding side by side and the path forked left and right. They were supposed to take the fork to the right but the older boy wasn’t turning. He waited until the last second then turned. The result was that the younger boy didn’t have enough space to negotiate the turn.

In a state of panic the younger boy forgot his bike had breaks and he dropped his feet straight down, but dragging his feet wasn’t enough. He went off the path in a sudden disappearance into the small divot in the grass. Almost as quickly he popped up bike less. His one leg was thickly coated with mud, his shoe was missing and there was something unidentifiable in his hand.

He wasn’t crying which was good because my husband had quickly identified the object in my son’s hand and as his voice rang out, “How the hell did you lose your sock?” I cracked. Waves of giggles escaped from me. My younger son shifted his death glare from his brother’s back to my face and suddenly seemed unsure whether he wanted to be angry or join in the laughter. The result was a goofy smirk from him and full out laughter from me.

I had to rescue the bike from the mud bog without falling in due to laughter all the while imagining a cartoon character falling over and a number of strange and impossible items coming flying out of the wreckage. How the hell did he lose a sock?

By Shari Marshall – 2018

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The Penis Chronicles is a weekly platform for sharing childcare stories, advice & etcetera. Raising children is an adventure! And please, I know the title says “penis chronicles”, but stories about raising girls are very much welcome. Please post and share your link and/or your comments in the comments section below.