The Different Ways That I Was Annoyed As A Parent And Grandparent.

1. A sitter bailed out on babysitting last minute as she had a date! I said I hope she doesn't get pregnant tonight and expect me to babysit. I'm not babysitting for her now!

2. A call from the school asking to come home as he was sick. "His dad said, "Can you walk?" then when he was told yes, he said, "Walk back to class then!"

3. The teacher said to me, "It doesn't matter what the cultural differences are, I have been teaching for 25 years and I am probably not going to change!"

4. I couldn't get that teacher fired as he had tenure. By talking with other parents did mean he was let go from his coaching position!

5. When another teacher put my son in time out in her classroom for not doing anything wrong, I called her to tell her a little about the teacher she was defending. And I could hear the kids say, "Oh, oh, Ms. _____, you are in trouble now. ____ mom is calling.

6. When I found out my older daughter and her friend knew all about this teacher and how he would act at the beginning of class to scare students into being silent witnesses to his abuse of others I was more than annoyed.

7. My husband called me at the airport to ask where our daughter was and I said that he better learn as he wasn't a babysitter, he was a parent! Then I hung up. (This was after I told him that I would only marry him if he was invested in being a parent to our children! He had one son and I had a younger daughter and son.)

8. When my grandchildren have been harassed on the bus, because of their skin color, nothing appeared to happen about it. Even though it was clear their mother did complain.

9. When I was walking with my blue-eyed, platinum-hair-colored grandson at the zoo and a woman ran up thinking he was lost and scared him, so he grabbed me, saying "Grandma" and tried hiding from her.

I bet you thought this was a list of how my children and grandchildren annoyed me. Here are a few for some of my now 7 children and 25 grandchildren.

10. Not hearing back from them when I text, message, or call.

11. Not returning my phone call, but answering with a text message.

12. Not calling for a long time. Sometimes months.

13. Not loving themselves and not knowing that I love them unconditionally.

14. Not believing that I will support them where I can and that I only want the best for them and I want them to be happy.

The annoyances with teachers and others come from living in a mixed-race family, even though most of the children have Native American blood, they can still have light skin color, blue eyes, and blond hair or dark skin, eyes and hair, and then everything in between or a combination.

They are socialized with the culture as many have been raised in that way.

I love my children and grandchildren and I am only annoyed with them when I don't hear from them or don't know what is going on in their life. It is usually not something good when I don't hear from them. Either they are upset with me or themselves.

So, is this just enough or too many? With seven children and 25 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, I can always write more. My husband and I have had conversations about keeping it brief lately. So, I am trying that!