As I get closer and closer to this thing called "middle age", I keep thinking that I should be improving in the area of "adulting." It should surely be getting easier with the more practice that I have. But that does not seem to be the case.
Instead, life just keeps getting more and more complicated. Responsibilities at work keep intensifying, and parenting feels like it matters more and more with every passing second. I mean, they are REALLLLLLY watching and listening now. And I am pretty sure that every decision I make regarding their well being is going to make or break their chances of growing to be decent humans.
With that in mind, I tend to think about situations much more before I react to them than I used to. (Or at least I try to think things through before I react...) And that was the case yesterday when I found out that I was not, in fact, one of the 6 parents that was chosen to volunteer at my son's Halloween party at school today.
Over the last month I have emailed back and forth a few times with his teacher, letting her know that I wanted to volunteer. She told me that she added my name to the list, and that the head party planner would be contacting me. Much to my surprise, no one contacted me. So last week I spoke to another parent and asked her to have the "room parent" let me know what I needed to bring for the Halloween party. She sent me a text stating that I wasn't on the list that the teacher had given her, and I would not be able to attend the party because they already had their max of 6 parents volunteering.
Deep breathes.
I decided to wait approximately 12 hours before emailing the teacher to find out what the problem was, as I was sure there was a misunderstanding since she had told me I was on the list. She responded right away that she had passed along my info, but there must have already been 6 volunteers and she was sorry, but....
And that was that.
I am pretty sure that a few years ago I would have called the teacher, or called the principal and tried really hard to make things go my way, without thinking of the effect that could potentially have on my son's relationship with his teacher. And, believe me, I wanted to throw a little fit and tell people how ridiculous and unfair that was. But, instead, I thought about it. I thought realllllly hard about it. And realized that no good was going to come out of me doing that.
So, I went and watched my boys in their school parade, and then, I left. And spent the next hour doing this...
And when the boys got home I had them tell me all about their parties and all of the fun games they played and snacks they ate.
Then I showed them pictures from my bike ride. And they thought that was pretty cool.
And right at that moment I knew that I had made the right choice. Sometimes you just have to let it go. Because they are watching and listening and learning.
Sparkle.Pounce.Be The Example.
-Kendra
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