This weekend my son was playing around (he is quite the jokester) and got a bit carried. It wasn't a huge deal, in fact it felt tiny, but then again it was significant enough that I could not overlook it... I say it was tiny but significant because I knew where he was coming from was innocent (and joking) but he was in trouble for not respecting an adult. Unfortunately for him the timing couldn't have been worse... we were literally walking out the door to big, fun plans for the kiddos.
I hate when that happens- you are right on the cusp of something fun/fantastic with the fam and BAM you are hit with parenting and it isn't at the most opportune time either.... you are stuck between sticking to your guns (which is my parenting MUST) or laxing a bit because in this case the adverse joke came at a bad time.
I am the self proclaimed GI JOE of mothers, a real hard-ass in mascara, so you know I went with sticking to my guns. My son had to sit out while our other two children enjoyed themselves at our local entertainment Haas.
The whole time we were there He cried, he had a horrible time, I wanted to cry and didn't have a great time either. Outwardly I was mother GI JOE but inwardly I was hating it for him and cursing motherhood, probably not the wisest thing to do while 3rd trimester pregnant by the way. I hated to see my little boy miss out on all the fun but knew it was for a good cause, I just wondered if HE would see that and if he was indeed learning a lesson from it. So- I sat myself down and gave ME the speech about him needing to be taught the lesson of respecting adults, authority, etc. How this was bettering him as a person and sometimes lessons came at a hard price.
At dinner (our next stop) he said something I will never forget- Thank you for taking us to NAME OF REALLY FUN PLACE. Thank you for thinking of the us, kids and letting us have fun. I really appreciate that. I said- but you didn't get to play. You had to sit out because actions have consequences (gearing up for my whole prepared mom speech-see above) and he said- I know but that doesn't matter you still took us there and I appreciate it. He went on to apologize for his actions and told me he knows that all actions have consequences. Even if you don't mean them bad, it can turn out bad.
I was speechless. He was getting it. He learned and I could feel the happy tears sting my eyes! Sometimes we don't see immediate results as we parent and we wonder if all the blood, sweat, tears, and speeches are getting through. Mom's & Dad's It's working! Today I was struck by this quote because it seemed like it fit this situation most of all.
Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.
