Letter to my daughter:
Dear Lila,
I owe you an apology. I am sorry for being so short with you at the bus stop this morning. I was aggravated that you didn’t know where your book bag was when the bus arrived, but I should have handled it better. I saw the expression on your face when you walked away and I know I hurt your feelings. I truly am sorry about for that and for sending you off to school upset. I know that misplacing your book bag was a mistake and luckily, it was found in time. I know that you will do better from now on with keeping up with it at the bus stop. I want you to know that I love you and am proud of you and that I make mistakes, too, like I did this morning when I hurt your feelings when I was aggravated and short. I am sorry.
I love you,
Mom
You see, this morning I had one of those sucky parenting
moments. Most, if not all, of us have
them. While playing at the bus stop, Lila misplaced her backpack this morning
and when the bus arrived she couldn’t find it. Luckily, one of the parents
found it in time. It really wasn’t that
big of a deal. However, I was
immediately aggravated and impatient and when she ran by me on her way to the
bus after finding it, I very shortly said something to the effect of, “Not keeping
up with your book bag is NOT OKAY. YOU.
WILL. KEEP. IT. WITH. YOU. FROM. NOW. ON.”
The expression on her face as she kept heading to the bus said it all.
Her eyes watered up and she immediately put her head down and kept
walking. Her facial expression has stuck
with me all day. I screwed up. I sucked at being a parent in that
moment. So, how do I fix it? I apologize. I remember that look and hope
that next time I am aggravated over something simple, I will remember it and
remember that we all make mistakes and that’s okay. I’ll try to cut her some slack. I’ll try to do the same for myself. I now that those sucky parenting moments are
going to happen. I just have to try to
do my best to fix them the best I can, learn from them and work to be better.
