- Last night I went to dinner with Napoleon. That is the only way I can think to describe the little person in the restaurant with me. We don’t go out to eat much. Maybe that was the problem. There were other children there. Maybe she was trying to impress them. I don’t know. All I know is the look on my two year old’s face was not hers. We had a knock-down, drag-out, full-blown hissy fit. Call it a melt down, if you will. I asked Chloe to sit down and quit running about. She disobeyed me. She looked at me with a mean glare, and said, “No!” Do what? It didn’t stop there. I tried to reign her in, and she further revolted. I won’t go into nasty details. Just know it ended with her screaming and crying, while I’m threatening to take her to the bathroom, and every eye in the place is glued on the show. By that point, what can you do? You can’t spank em in public. You have to try and de-escalate the situation, and regroup later.
- So that’s what I did. I didn’t grab her kicking and screaming off to the bathroom. Maybe I should have. I don’t know. In my defense, I did have a baby in my arms. I calmed her down, and being as two year old as possible, her tears quickly dried, and she began to chatter happily to her cousin. So, that left me to regroup. What that means is I spend the next 24 hours stewing over what I did that caused her to behave that way, what I should have done differently at the time, and what I can do to prevent future incidents. Don’t laugh at me! That’s what I do.
- I found myself worrying if I wasn’t teaching her properly. Was I giving a poor example for behavior? Am I too lenient? Am I too harsh? I fretted and fretted. This morning, I woke up still thinking about it. I talked to God about it as I got ready for work. A song came to mind that has the words, “when I fix my eyes on all that you are.” It seemed so simple then. Instead of worrying if I should do this or do that, I just seek Him. By meditating on His word through scripture and prayerful consideration, I will hear His voice and urging or wisdom on how I should proceed. It’s always going to be a fine balance for me. I can’t help it. When I got in the car, a song was ending and the words went, “don’t over think it.” Yes. I’ll be mindful of my actions and reactions, but rather than drilling myself on if I’m doing it right, I’ll just set my eyes on His character. Yes, this is something I remind myself of often. I’m sure my Abba Father is shaking His head.
That is all 🙂