parenting on the fly: the rest of the story.
So of course I gave Olivia the damn pony.
Sort of. After listening to one excuse followed by another from her teacher, I mulled around for a few minutes waiting to see what would happen next. The children were called to line up and the colorful Little Ponies were corralled back into their backpack stables and tossed into cubbies.
I grabbed Olivia’s backpack, unzipped it, and shoved that little plastic pony into the pocket.
And then I called Olivia over and told her it was there and she may play with it in the afternoon IF the other girls got theirs out. She looked at me with her big blue eyes. “Ok, Mama. Thank you.”
And then she skipped off, her sun-kissed blonde locks swaying behind her.
Was this decision laced with guilt? Probably.
Did my leaving on an 8-day business trip today lead to a cave-in decision? Likely.
The fact is, this whole parenting business is on the fly and in the moment. Sometimes we’re going to nail it on the head and sometimes we’re going to feel like we missed the boat and sometimes we’re going to mix metaphors in the process.
I heard this great line the other day: “Every plan is perfect until it’s executed.”
Yeah, exactly. When Olivia was safely in my tummy, I was the best damn mother the world has ever seen. No sugar until she’s 18! 100% organic from day one! A maximum of 30 minutes of screen time per month! Reading by age 1.5!
Ok, maybe I didn’t plan for any of these things exactly, but you get the idea.
Some days we will get it right, and some days we will get it not-so-right, but every day we will do the best job we can, and then try to do a better job the next day.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on yesterday’s post. Your thoughtful, insightful, funny, charged replies both validated my decision and confirmed that while we may see and do things differently, it is clear that we all have our eyes on the same prize: plastic winged ponies, of course.*
*Disclaimer: I’m only kidding. Obviously the prize is making sure our children know we have super-power vision that allows us to see plastic winged ponies through clothing. Duh.
I love how you love her. It’s awesome. Have a good trip!
Olivia wins. Ponies win. Mom wins. Save the battles for life lessons that actually matter.
That was a perfect compromise I think. Safe travels.
Great ending … I think that even if you were not leaving on a work trip you would have given it to her. Afterall, if she is going to be “in the game” she may as well have the same equipment as the others!