No More Crying Over Spilled Milk, or Ice Water, Or Chocolate Shakes

With all the stress that we have been under for 10 weeks now, I realized that I needed to put things into perspective.   I read a blog called Single Dad Laughing, the title was "You Just Broke Your Child. Congratulations." It was about a dad who degraded his son in a store, in front of everyone. Pure embarrassment for the child.   It really made me think about how I am as a mother.  I love my girls with all my heart, I would do anything for them, and I honestly believe that they come first in every aspect of my life.  Sometimes, however, especially when I'm stressed,  I lose my patience too quickly.  This is something that I am consciously working on improving, especially after reading that post by Single Dad. 

Our children only get one childhood.  How do I want them to remember it?  With a stressed out mom who loses her patience too quickly?  Short tempered when things aren't going right?  Definitely not.  I realized that I needed to make a change.  There are so many "big things" in life that we need to focus on. So many big things that truly are a cause for worry.  Spilled milk is not one of them.  When I feel like I am losing my patience, I am going to think first and really take the other person's feelings into consideration.  And yes, that includes my 7 year old, and even my almost 10 month old.  So when "someone" spilled a glass of ice water on me last week, I didn't "freak out" at all.  And then when I accidentally spilled a chocolate milk shake on "her" (her dessert at the Olive Garden) the following week, she didn't "freak out" either.  I think she remembered how I reacted to it and that it wasn't a big deal.  It was a huge mess, but we laughed about it. (And it was everywhere--our jackets, my purse, the table and chairs, and then it even started dripping on the floor.) Mommy had really made a big mess!

And you know what, it felt good to laugh about it and realize that it was not the end of the world.   There are so many other big things to worry about. So many other things that we don't have control over.   Sometimes we just need to put it all into perspective...  stop being so critical of others,   remember that no one is perfect...and remember, there's no need to cry over spilled milk.

Here's the blog that inspires me every day to be the best mom I can. Very much worth the read!

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/you-just-broke-your-child.html