How Did My Kids Get To Be So Annoying?!

By Hend Hegazi

Bismillah

I am not talking about the annoying that comes with being awakened from a deep sleep by an excruciatingly smelly diaper. Or the number of times a day I hear, “ I'm all done peeing and pooping…come wash my butt!!”

I am not even talking about the way they always seem to wait until I come out of the kitchen after having spent hours in there, to tell me they are hungry. Or that their favourite time to tell me about their day is not when I ask, but rather just when it is time to do homework.

I am not talking about how they follow me around the house like new born chicks of a mother goose. Or even—for reasons I am sure I will never understand—when I say, “Stay out of the guest room” what they hear is “Party in the guest room!”

I am not talking about how their very favourite place to sneeze is directly in my face. Or the way all the cupboard knobs are in a perpetual state of stickiness. These are all annoying things they do despite themselves…it is just part of being a kid. (Right?? Someone tell me I am right. Oh, please God tell me I am not just fooling myself into thinking they will eventually outgrow these behaviours!!)

What I am talking about is the way they are intentionally annoying, usually to each other.

My two year old and four year old were fighting over some books. Neither of them reads, obviously, and to be honest, they usually spend about three seconds looking at the pictures then they proceed to tear the pages out. The condition of the books they were fighting over was already pretty pitiful. I managed to convince my son to give his younger sister the one she wanted. They both seemed happy with the compromise, then a second later he turns to her and says, “Naa naa na naa na! I have two books and you only have one!” How annoying is that?! And I just cannot remember where he learned that whinny chant. And what is the point of even saying that? To pick another fight, of course! Annoying!!

My four year old came home from pre-school the other day with a lollipop. His older brother begged and begged for it, “for just a lick even,” but with no luck. When the younger one finally opened it up, his brother asked him, “Does it taste good?” And without even waiting for the answer, he said, “I hope it tastes bad.” Need I say more??

The oldest heard his brother say he was going to play with a certain toy. So of course, in the spirit of true annoyingness, he goes and grabs it before his brother can.

Do they think it is an art? “The art of being annoying”

Despite all their annoying, they are unquestionably Allah’s greatest blessings. May Allah bless all the Muslim children, and grant their parents patience and guide us to raise them with Islam as their foundation and Paradise as their goal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do your kids annoy you like this? Please post in the comments section below :) 

Posted in: annoyed,annoying,Hend Hegazi,kids,Parenting,Reflections