Lessons Learned

Sometimes it is so hard to be mom. To be the one to teach the lessons in life that are hard to learn. Today was one of those days. As I posted earlier today was a day of celebration for Paityn's birthday. We had kids from the neighborhood and one from daycare all here. Now, my daughter is used to being around lots of kids at one time. She usually does very well, but as the day wore on I was sad to see that the friend from daycare was somewhat being ignored and was enjoying hanging out with me more then with the kids.

This evening Paityn and two of the kids were outside playing in our front yard. I noticed that Louie had not barked lately, which he frequently does when the kids are playing. So, I went out looking for them only to find my front yard empty and Paityn no where to be found. She was at the end of the street at someones house that she had not asked to go to. Now I understand that kids get distracted and she was at a home that I totally trust her to be at. However, she has done this three times in the last two weeks.....here comes the hard lesson to learn. I called Paityn down to our house and told her that all the kids except the one from daycare needed to go home right then and they could not have a sleep over. After several minutes of making a scene in the front yard....don't know who she would get the dramatic side from.... she came in. I called her into my room as she still had company over. I told her that I was done tracking her down. We have a "checking in" rule for a reason. She is not allowed to change plans what so ever unless she checks in. When she doesn't do that it forces me to have to take other measures. I also told her that I was sad to see that the friend from daycare had spent much of the day on her own.

Here comes the oh so proud mom moment. Paityn pulled herself together. She spent some time getting jammies on and calming down only to return to the living room where her friend was at. She looked right her and apologized for ignoring her for most of the day. She said that she was very sorry and that she knew it was wrong. The friend said not to worry, she was used to being alone since she has no siblings. Paityn looked at her and said, "no, I can be a better friend then that and I am sorry I didn't today."

Point to my long drawn out story. There are times in this life when i feel that i am for sure doing everything possible to mess up my child. I felt horrible when I sent the other kids away. However, as I listened to the heart felt apology and explanation of what a friend should be coming from my daughters lips I was again reminded that these hard moments have their reward and I will probably not be lucky enough to witness many of them, but I can at least know that they are there.