Tell us... About HotchReid... Being parents. The good the bad and the ugly.
Alright, now that I don't have relatives over and a housing assignment and the sadness of 10 men coursing through me, I'll answer. I apologize if this has spelling errors/is not very good. I've been awake an hour and I'm on the bus.
They're good parents! By all accounts, they're good parents! That being said, of course, nobody is perfect, and they've certainly got their faults.
- Spencer does not know how to do the whole parenting thing. He does not know how to do the whole child safety thing. He has corners on his tables and lots of books that are on shelves and his apartment is generslly old and creaky and splintery anyhow and he does not see a problem with this. After all, that's the sort of place he grew up in. It's less of a "back in my day..." Thing and more of a "this is what I'm used to" thing. He doesn't see the faults.
- Aaron, however, moet certainly does see these faults, and is generslly very wary about bringing Jack over to Spencer's place. There's an incident which cements this for him, and Jack no longer goes over to Spencer's.
- Jack manages to grab onto the side of the bookcase and pull it down. Luckily, Soencer sees this and manages to shove/pull him out of the way. Unfortunately for him, he ends up with a broken toe, but it's better than a broken head.
- "I went to the bathroom for three minutes!"
- Aaron doesn't actually really know how to discipline. He never got the corner when he was bad. He got the belt. So he doesn't really know how, exactly, to properly discipline Jack when he's naughty.
- He tries, but he doesn't want to cross any lines and be too harsh. This means Jack probably gets away with a lit more than he should, but he's pretty much a good kid, so it's jot really bad stuff until he hits his teen years.
- It's a difficult thing for Spencer to transition to when they move in together. He's still sort of trying to learn that he can rely on people and they care about him and that he doesn't have to be Independant all the time and life isn't a DIY project.
- Throw into that being a consistent adult figure for a child, and, well. It's a whole, big mess. Jack sort of upturns his life and he loves the kid, but he's sort of reconsidering this whole moving in together thing.
- He gets used to it, though, and after a while of Spencer hiding out in the laundry room with the spiders, they get a special sign for his office door that specifies when he is and when he isn't allowed to come in. He always has to knock first and he's not allowed to touch anything without express permission.
- There are a few bumps on the road with this. There are a few scribbled on psychology journals and a ruined work of art or two, Jack starts to get it and he leaves his stuff alone.
- Aaron never, never, never yells at Jack. Never ever. And he makes sure to show him how important love and emotions are so thst he doesn't grow up with an inability to shsre and process his emotions like Aaron did.
- He also tries to take him on outings when he can. It's not expensive stuff and it's not like "dad is the more fun parent!" It's more of he wants Jack to enjoy his time and see the world. They go on bike rides, to the park, to the zoo, to museums, wherever. Just somewhere, out, together.
- The most important thing overall, of course, is that they love Jack and they try to do their best. They're involved and they do what makes him haply and healthy.
