Avery came home very upset yesterday. She had thought she had done all of her homework Sunday night, but she had forgotten an assignment from Algebra that the teacher had given her at the last minute on Friday. I had picked her up from school early on Friday and we raced home. While I got a snack ready for her she finished packing for the youth retreat.
She had a busy weekend, when we picked her up from the retreat, we brought her to our Goddaughter's house where we were celebrating her birthday. Avery was exhausted when we finally arrived home on Sunday evening. She finished her homework and went to bed. Now, here she was beside herself, because she had forgotten some of her homework. As she cried I offered to get in touch with the teacher to let her know what had happened. I thought perhaps I could plead her case for leniency. But Avery said, "No, that's OK, it was my mistake."
I was so proud of her at that moment. She was going to take her lumps and move forward, Mommy was not going to fix this for her, she would take care of it. That was the moment that I knew...my "baby" is growing up. I told her that I was very proud of her. I also told her that it is very important in life to learn how to work through the tough stuff, the mistakes and the difficult times on your own. Someday that will come in handy for her.
As I said this to her, I realized that I had the opportunity to model this for her in my own life, right now. As I deal with all the craziness that is happening in my family I can show her that you can move through difficulties with grace. I want her to know that as long as you are honest and truthful, you are doing all the right things. I am grateful for this opportunity to teach my children to respect others regardless of what they do to you. If they learn this one lesson in their life, I will be happy. Some days, there are things that seem a little more important then being a perfect mom.
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