I had a hard day today. Disappointment. Miscommunication. Delays. Other than a super-cute new haircut (thanks, MB), things were a disaster.
The chaos of moving overseas mixed with the weariness of parenting sick children left me feeling like I began the day,
behind.
The list seemed overwhelming and the plan for the morning became quickly skewed by errands that took too long and bickering from the backseat. And I can’t say that I handled it beautifully–I overindulged in icecream and eventually locked myself in the bathroom for a five-minute cry. But here’s the thing–tonight was the Daddy-Daughter dance in our small town at the local Cultural Center. It was an event we had anticipated since last year when she had the “best night of her entire life.” We had bought the Daddy-shoes, the girl-corsage, and the Goodwill-dress, and at 5:30 pm, I was faced with a choice. Despite my own hard and exhausting day, my little girl had a date with her daddy and she needed me to curl her hair and find her shoes. And I was reminded that
parenting does not afford me the luxury of wallowing.
In fact, any true relationship or genuine love doesn’t allow it either.
Wallowing in self-pity, a bad mood, and my own irritability is really just selfishness at it’s core. It is in essence saying that my troubles are more important than your needs. And that’s just not something I wanted to tell my six-year-old princess tonight.
And I’m thankful I didn’t . . .
. . . because wallowing doesn’t make smiles like just getting over it does.
Have any anti-wallowing tips you would like to share? What works for you to get out of the pit?
THREE MONTHS in THIRTY SECONDS
Breanna's House of Joy and Joy to the World Outreach.
Destined Traveler.
Tattered Couch.
From Then till Now
7. March 2010 at 5:36 am
Laura,
I love this post. Kelty looks so happy and how cool that Daddy took her to such a neat evening. I am sorry you had a bad day. I just think you are amazing and inspirational no matter what life brings you. I can relate to this post…so thanks for the awesome perspective. Love ya,Darla
7. March 2010 at 2:11 pm
oh, thanks, D! it’s so hard to get out of ourselves, isn’t it? thanks for the encouragement . . . . i know you know firsthand the hardness of “hard days” of late. any news on the paperwork for the house??
8. March 2010 at 10:31 am
Laura, thank you for your continued honesty! You are such an inspiration to me! I love reading your blog!
8. March 2010 at 2:30 pm
LOVE LOVE LOVE these pics of Kelty and Matt…they look so cute. And, Kelty is beautiful!!!
8. March 2010 at 2:43 pm
thanks so much, Carol. i’m happy you are visiting. it’s amazing how the web-world can make us feel close to people we normally wouldn’t have much connection with! i love that . . . hope you guys are doing well!
14. March 2010 at 10:23 pm
Beautiful pics of Kelty and her special night! She is indeed a blessed little girl!
19. March 2010 at 1:25 pm
I’m new to being a parent. My sister moved on to a better place a couple of months ago and because my nephew does not know his real father, he wanted to stay with me. It wasn’t hard to say, yes. He is family and I love the kid. I am in search of everything I can locate on the web about raising a child because I want to be the best uncle a kid can have so, thank you for the blog post and now I must move on to the next one.
20. March 2010 at 4:51 am
Wow, thanks for stopping by and I admire your willingness to learn about parenthood. It is a wonderful journey that forces you to unselfishness like never before. You are doing a deeply good thing. Hang in there . . .