CRAPPY Parent!!
I had "a moment" today...
A bad moment.
The day had gone great. Nothing out of the ordinary. My middle child was sick with a cold that made her feel kind of crummy but we still had a normal day. School, chores, walk the dog, and met a friend at the park.
All was going well...
UNTIL...
I noticed that my daughter's reading book, that had been BORROWED, had puppy chew marks all over it!
"Oh no!" I said, "What happened?"
My daughters response: Immediate denial followed by lame excuses like "I don't remember" and "I don't know what happened." Her sister ratted her out saying she saw the whole thing (and honestly, I vaguely remember it as well). The book had been on the coffee table, the dog had got a hold of it. My daughter said "No Zena!" grabbed the book and put it up. I thought nothing of it.
"I don't remember the dog getting my book? WHY would the dog chew the book? When? What day did she eat the book?" My daughter went on and on grasping at straws to make her lie feasible.
I felt hurt. She'd been doing so good at being honest even when it was hard. I trusted her and she was lying to me. I gave her a chance to tell the truth and the denials got louder and more frantic.
"Go to your room," I said firmly. I was done with the charade.
Then everything went to pot.
She lost her cool and I lost mine right along with it. I tried to force her to listen in the heat of the moment and it just turned into a battle of wills. An ugly battle of wills where I forced my way instead of putting relationship and love first...
Everything BLEW UP and even after I'd done what I could to mend things I stood at the kitchen counter folding laundry repeating in my head "I feel like a CRAPPY parent!" over and over. Is it true? I asked myself, and knew it wasn't.
"I'm not a crappy parent. I'm a good parent that had a crappy moment." I knew that was the truth even though I didn't feel like it was.
I'm not a perfect parent.
I'm not a terrible parent.
I'm a good parent who has bad moments.
Everything got smoothed over. I apologized for my bad choices and behaviors, my daughter was corrected for her lying, and "love covers a multitude of sins" as the Bible says. It's true. Love covers our wrongs and it gives us the strength to forgive each other and move on.
Mama, we ALL have our crappy parent moments, but please remember in the midst of it, you are a GREAT mom even if your having a bad moment, a blunder, or have made a mistake. Apologize, make amends, and work to improve for next time.
Much love,
-Joy
A bad moment.
The day had gone great. Nothing out of the ordinary. My middle child was sick with a cold that made her feel kind of crummy but we still had a normal day. School, chores, walk the dog, and met a friend at the park.
All was going well...
UNTIL...
I noticed that my daughter's reading book, that had been BORROWED, had puppy chew marks all over it!
"Oh no!" I said, "What happened?"
My daughters response: Immediate denial followed by lame excuses like "I don't remember" and "I don't know what happened." Her sister ratted her out saying she saw the whole thing (and honestly, I vaguely remember it as well). The book had been on the coffee table, the dog had got a hold of it. My daughter said "No Zena!" grabbed the book and put it up. I thought nothing of it.
"I don't remember the dog getting my book? WHY would the dog chew the book? When? What day did she eat the book?" My daughter went on and on grasping at straws to make her lie feasible.
I felt hurt. She'd been doing so good at being honest even when it was hard. I trusted her and she was lying to me. I gave her a chance to tell the truth and the denials got louder and more frantic.
"Go to your room," I said firmly. I was done with the charade.
Then everything went to pot.
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| Photo Credit: Mcleans.ca |
She lost her cool and I lost mine right along with it. I tried to force her to listen in the heat of the moment and it just turned into a battle of wills. An ugly battle of wills where I forced my way instead of putting relationship and love first...
Everything BLEW UP and even after I'd done what I could to mend things I stood at the kitchen counter folding laundry repeating in my head "I feel like a CRAPPY parent!" over and over. Is it true? I asked myself, and knew it wasn't.
"I'm not a crappy parent. I'm a good parent that had a crappy moment." I knew that was the truth even though I didn't feel like it was.
I'm not a perfect parent.
I'm not a terrible parent.
I'm a good parent who has bad moments.
Everything got smoothed over. I apologized for my bad choices and behaviors, my daughter was corrected for her lying, and "love covers a multitude of sins" as the Bible says. It's true. Love covers our wrongs and it gives us the strength to forgive each other and move on.
Mama, we ALL have our crappy parent moments, but please remember in the midst of it, you are a GREAT mom even if your having a bad moment, a blunder, or have made a mistake. Apologize, make amends, and work to improve for next time.
Much love,
-Joy
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