This evening as I was trying desperately to get my house in order before the week starts, Emma followed me around making messes behind my every step. She was just doing everything she could to frustrate me...not intentionally...but still. Anyway- I snapped at her and she began crying so sincerely. Then, with this heart wrenching tone, she said, "Why are you yelling at me? Why are you so mad? I'm just a little girl!" In that moment my whole world crashed right on top of me and all I could do was take her in my arms and apologize, and cry myself. So tonight I learned a couple things:
- Pick on somebody your own size.
- Yelling is completely pointless and just tears people down and creates more hurt feelings and tension.
- The one thing I'm not failing at as a parent is that I'm sure to give my children plenty of opportunities to practice forgiveness.
I feel like such a mess.
Janet
You're not the only one. This morning, the kids pushed open a door that I want to stay locked and used a chair to build a fort or something with. I was trying to exercise (just for 30 minutes) and they were fighting over something as well. I totally lost it with them and they all ended up crying. I am trying to make it up to them now. Maybe I'll have to cuddle them all through an entire episode of Spongebob or something. I think children learn a lot when we can own up to our mistakes and they need to learn to forgive us. They're going to need that skill in life as they get older.
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