Hurry Up and Wait

To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite bloggers, " I'm a great Mom. Except when I'm not."

I blew it again.

Yesterday I was in a hurry. I don't even remember why at the moment, but I needed to go somewhere, and go now. I didn't have a large time window.

Princess was pushing my buttons that day, and I wanted to give her an opportunity to redeem herself. That in of itself would have been fine.

But I told her to go tot the bathroom.

Alone.

Without supervision.

Now, Princess is 3 1/2 years old and she is perfectly able to go potty. But, she has a tendency to forget details. Like wiping, flushing or washing her hands.

So, someone needs to remind her to do those things.

But I was busy and in the car, trying to get all of the huge balls of kinetic energy (read children) into their seats and strapped in. Princess was taking too long, so I went to the basement stairs and shouted up the stairs to her what was taking so long. Then I saw her.

Completely naked from the waist down. One shoe and sock on, one off. It seems that she forgot to put the toilet seat down when she went to wash her hands and stepped into the toilet (don't worry, it was clean).

In hind sight it was hilarious! But I didn't laugh. I got angry.

I was inconvenienced, by having to interrupt my almighty schedule for a short person. So I stomped upstairs, get her new clothes, and generally let her know that I was not happy with her.

She got the point. She cried and said, "Sorry, Mommy"

So, how many times do we hurry our children, demand that they conform to our schedules and then we get irritated when they can't keep up?

In my own selfishness, I forget that my children are little people that need to be loved and not herded like cattle from one event to the next.

A great quote from Lorrie Fleming of Teach Magazine states, "The Bible shows us over and over again that the greatest enemy of God's will and God's best is often impatience."

It's o.k. I made up with Princess. I have learned long ago to not let my mistakes slip past me when possible. I apologize to my children when I mess up, and they are gracious enough to forgive me.

Again.