By Paige Nash
I know so many of you can relate to this parenting portion of my life, and that is the only reason I feel comfortable sharing some of the things that I do with you. The good, bad, ugly, embarrassing, hilarious, beautiful and shameful moments. I like to think of them as a collection of snapshots we take to remember this journey called parenthood.
I have had my fair share of these stills over the last almost 9 years, some that I wish I could put away in a scrapbook and never look back at again. Once we get to know each other a little better I may share more about the bad, ugly and embarrassing images, but for now I will stick with the luckily more frequent, hilarious and today perhaps a bit more shameful of the stockpile.
I am going to preface this by saying that usually I like to turn the crazy things my kids say into life lessons for them, but almost just as often I find that they are life lessons for me. This was one of them.
My sweet, innocent and hilarious (even though she doesn’t try to be) 4-year-old, Ashton, utterly despises it when I do her hair. Most of the time she puts up such a fight, I just brush it and send her on her way. The other morning, we were getting ready to go have breakfast with a friend. Her hair was a mess from falling asleep with it still wet from bath time the night before, so I talked her into letting me braid it for her.
Now I am a little out of practice, due to my oldest being old enough to do her own hair and my youngest not having enough hair yet to do anything with. It was a struggle from start to finish. Between brushing out the tangles and her fighting me every step of the way, I finally start the braid, which I have to redo about 5 times.
In the middle of my third attempt, she says, “I am going to need a drink after this.”
I absolutely have no idea how to handle this situation, I am laughing on the inside (a little shamefully.) I am standing there staring in disbelief on the outside, with my mouth wide open. I asked her to repeat herself, just to double check I heard her right and give myself a little extra time to compose my thoughts.
She verifies that I indeed heard her correctly and I ask, “A drink of what exactly?” She says, “I don’t know, maybe orange juice.” At this point I am giggling and just tell her after I finish, I will make her a glass of much deserved orange juice and that I may need one, too.
So, the lesson this week is quite simple: Watch what you say in front of your kids. They are most definitely listening, even when you think they’re not.
That’s it. That’s the lesson. I am going to leave it there for today.
(Paige Nash is a wife, mother and journalist for Webster Parish Journal.)
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