I thought under our hedge, near the fence, would be a good place so I went ahead of Sam and weeded and he started digging. Unfortunately Rachel was quite distracting, wanting to steal our tools and dig in the flower beds and play with the pruning shears, so I opened the sandbox and convinced her it was the coolest place on earth to be for awhile.
And then the parenting lesson hit because after digging one and a half holes and planting one plant, Sam announced he was done. "I'd like to play in the sandbox Mommy" and off he went. Part of me struggled -- this was OUR time to plant together. I had arranged this just for Sam. It was supposed to be FUN! There were seven more holes to dig and plants to plant. It was supposed to be his time of planting how he wanted and my time of letting him have that. And then I stopped -- if Sam wanted to spend his time playing in the sandbox he was happy. He was having his time of doing what he wanted to do and I didn't need to be forcing him to follow the original plan of having fun.
Parenting, especially for an organized planner like me, is all about letting go of the reins and realizing that it's okay when my kids follow a different plan. Especially when the original plan was supposed to be about having fun. It's no fun forcing people to have fun according to the plan if they are not on board with the plan.
So now my impatiens will remind me that once again, no matter how much I want to be, I am Not. In. Control. And Sam did decide to get involved again when it came to watering them. And he still calls them "his plants" so I guess that counts for something, right?!?!
That is so true! I've been there before. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know it's not just me. That's what I love about blogging. I meet all sorts of people who feel just like I do!
DeleteOh, I am so very impatient, and well, you already know how OCD I am. Haha! I love this little lesson and the pictures of Sam and Rachel taking care of his plants. Memories were made, and that's what's important!
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