Choices

Choice #1: No Bollywood Movies for kids

A friend pinged us with a movie invite for "Simmba" today. I rarely watch Bollywood movies in theatre, and our kids have never watched any yet. The only Bollywood movie RnR watched at home over summer was Dangal - we took 3 days to finish it but it was related to boxing and girls, so it was inspiring in some ways.

I politely declined the invite. The friend kept pressing why - she wanted company for her kiddo it seems. I stuck to my ground but was left feeling the odd one out. She remarked that everyone takes their kids to Hindi movies. I simply said enjoy and moved on.

Choice #2: Stand up against people who bitch about you behind your back

I distanced myself from a so-called good friend when I found out from several sources over the course of 6 months that she had nothing but negative things to say, not just about me but also about my daughter (why??). I feel so dumb that I thought she is a well wisher - I went out of my way to keep our friendship, invited her family over many times, and also let her take advantage of me when it came to babysitting and play dates.

The issue is that our kids study together, take classes together, and we work together, in the same building/same floor. There is no choice but to bump into each other on many occasions, and I simply cannot fake my emotions all the time. At some point, it will show and I am worried how others will perceive it.

Choice #3: Avoid parties where alcohol is consumed

I have talked about this before. Hubby and I are teetotalers and we avoid parties where alcohol is consumed. If its a work thing, we go ourselves but when it's a family thing, we don't like to expose our children to that environment. It seems we are the odd ones out there too.

Choice #4: Disneyland

We've only taken our daughter to Disney once, when she turned 3. She hardly remembers her trip, but after that, none of our children have been Disney fans so they have never asked to visit. Californians, especially my American moms group, spend a ton of yearly Disney trips and passes. I don't know what the obsession is, and how you could go again and again to the same place? I found the rides boring, and everything very fake out there. I want to take both kids once, as a bucket list item of their childhood, but don't see ourselves being frequent visitors at all. Again, odd ones out around where we live.

I'm just in a pensive mood today, about the choices we make and how it affects us, shapes us. There is always this concern that your choices as a parent shouldn't impact your kids negatively, and I truly hope I can live up to that responsibility!!