The Day I Caved

Well parents, I know I don’t have to tell you this … but parenting is tough stuff. Today was the day that I caved, really and truly just melted right down to my core and here is why.

Not even 24 hours ago I gave my husband a hard time for letting the girls get to him. They have a way of melting daddy right into their little plans, which usually leaves mommy as the bad guy.

Tonight was my turn.

While out to dinner, my daughter quickly threw something into our bag and gave me that “I didn’t do it” look. Upon further investigation I realized that she had drawn on my brand new wallet.

A new not so cheap wallet that isn’t even a month old.

Normally, I probably would have lost it over this little incident. Lost my temper, blown my gasket, I think you get my drift.

Since we were in a restaurant, I took the stern but calm approach and explained that it wasn’t nice to draw on other people’s things, etc.

She looked down at her lap and quietly apologized.

Then, not even two seconds later she looked up at me and said, “But Mommy your wallet doesn’t have your name on it so I wrote an M so we would know that it’s yours.”

Speechless!

Tears.

All I could do then was hug her.

Who cares about my brand new wallet and the scribbled M’s all over it!

Why I Caved

I caved because that beautiful little girl just wanted the world to know that the wallet was her mommy’s.

Because I know how proud she is that she can write the letter M now and that she is finding any and every way possible to show off her new skill.

I caved because I know this was in no way a malicious incident, instead it was a truly thoughtful one.

In the Future

All too often we go through our days rushing from one thing to another, scratching off to do lists, and trying to keep up with the hustle and bustle. We can be short tempered, quick to snap, and easily overlook what is truly happening.

I know that if we had not been in a restaurant this whole incident would have played out differently.

Sometimes we have to curb our immediate “don’t do that” reactions and truly find out “why” they did it. We have to look past “what” our kids did to truly understand their thought process and motivation.

I know for a fact that I have probably missed far too many of these little moments over the past few years, and I know I’ll miss a few more. 

For now I am going to ask first and react later. I am going to take the time to find the “why” in situations before anything else. Moments like this give you a snapshot of your child’s heart. They help us to see just how truly amazing our kids are and the people they are growing up to be.

So parents, if you are anything like me I truly hope that you cave. I hope that you have a moment with your little one that completely knocks you to your knees and melts your heart. It’s good for the parenting soul.