Gulf Coast Family

It’s always a humbling experience to be chastised by one of your own children, whether deserved or not, isn’t it? I think about the times when my 14-year-old looks at the speedometer when I’m driving and informs me that I am breaking the law. Or when my 7-year-old complains that she had to miss a few minutes of recess because I didn’t sign her homework (no mention that she didn’t bother to show me the homework, but that’s a separate issue).

“Note to self: parties are really important!”

Then there is my 4-year-old, Haylee. She loves to boss everyone around and tell them what they’ve done wrong – David is putting something away in the wrong place, Daniel needs to stop scaring her with his Nerf gun, Hanna isn’t helping to clean up the room, or Daddy isn’t listening to her carefully enough. One day, she was trying to get my husband’s attention in the car, but he was concentrating on something on the radio and didn’t hear her. In an exasperated tone, she said, “Daddy, your daughter is trying to tell you something!” Usually, I am exempt from her scolding, but not always.

Haylee and Hanna love to set up different scenarios when they play – they’ll set up a classroom, a movie theater, or a restaurant. A few weeks ago, they set up a party in their room. My husband and I were invited to the party, as we usually are; but this particular time, something came up, and we never went in to participate. The room eventually got cleaned up and the party disassembled, and nothing more was said about it.

Until this week, that is. Haylee was setting up another party – this time in my room. I asked her to do it in her own room instead of mine, and she very sweetly said, “Mommy, do you remember that time that I had a party in my room, and I asked you to come, but you couldn’t come?” Then her tone turned bossy as I nodded, and she continued, “How about you don’t do that again?”

Wow! Note to self: parties are really important! And the thing I have to remember is that, to a 4-year-old, they really are that important. I love playing with my kids, but because a party with stuffed animals isn’t significant to me, it’s easy for me to brush it off if something else is distracting me. But from now on, at least until she outgrows this stage, I’ll make sure I have a really good reason for missing any more exciting events in my girls’ room!

Until next time,

Jennifer