There are days when I feel like I have this parenting thing down. There are days when I feel like I’m completely failing. I have days when I have so much patience with the kids, but I definitely have those days when I’m about to pull out my hair.
With little kids at home, things are constantly getting spilled. Milk, juice, snacks, a whole bowl of mac n cheese… You name it. Even though, I know it was probably an accident “Why did you do that?” always seems to be the first thing out of my mouth. I hate to admit it, but sometimes an “UGH” even comes out before the “Why did you do that?” Oh you know…that sound that comes out of your mouth when you’re so annoyed about something. My youngest Mariah (who just turned 1 not long ago) would leave her bottle or sippy on the floor tipped to the side which then resulted in drops of milk, juice, or water on the floor. “Mariah Ann, why did you leave your bottle like that?” Yes, I’ve said it. I don’t even think about it. It just slips out of my mouth.
Yesterday during lunch, something happened….
My husband’s laptop (which is actually mine but then he claims it’s his once I got a new one) was open on the counter. Well my 4 year old, Hendrix, left his cup of milk on the counter. Mariah can get up on our dining chairs and can get stuff off of our dining table so I’ve told them to make sure to put their sippy cups and glasses on the counter so she can’t reach them.
Well, the unexpected happened. I was going to grab something and ACCIDENTALLY knocked the glass of milk. Milk got all over the laptop…seeping down the keys. “OH MY GOSH!”….I quickly grabbed the laptop, unplugged the cord, and attempted to turn if off. While I was doing all this, Hendrix (4) and Lennon (2) come running towards me. Lennon grabs the towel hanging on the oven handle. Hendrix goes running to the bathroom, and then comes running back to me with a big pile of toilet paper. I know the only reason why he didn’t get me paper towels is because then he’d have to grab a chair and climb up on the counter to grab some paper towels. That’d take too long. He wanted to help me right away. “Here you go, Mom!” he says worried for me.
It then dawned on me. Not once did they question me. It was an accident. They didn’t ask me, “Why did you do that?” All they cared about was to help me clean it up. I’m so proud of them! I’m so proud of how they handled it. For myself on the other hand, I feel so ashamed of myself! My sweet innocent kids just showed me how to treat people….how to treat them in situations like this. Darn, now I feel bad for all the times when I have that annoyed response…questioning their actions when things happen…on accident. I will try my best to be more patient. I will try my best to be more understanding and to be kind when accidents happen.
Now with my husband, you ask? Let’s just say when I told him why his laptop wasn’t working at the moment he said, “Why did you spill milk on the laptop?!” Doesn’t he realize it was an accident. 😉
