We washed off the front of our TV stand today because it was covered in pencil and marker. Many parents we know, and parents we were raised by, would FREAK about pencil marks and such on the furniture, floors, or walls. But we calmly washed it off, with a reminder to draw on paper, rather than the furniture.
You know what? Kids make mistakes. So do parents. We try our best to remember this fact when we encounter an aggravating situation. We don’t always succeed at remaining calm, cool and collected. And neither do our our kiddoes. But we all try our best.
And when we get angry with each other, we do our best to apologize and to bring it back around. This helps keep one rough moment from becoming an entirely Bad Day. And it helps your kids know that adults aren’t perfect. The important thing is to recognize your mistakes, own them, and to make amends when necessary.
We take care to keep our priceless heirlooms out of our kids reach in order to avoid accidents. And we try to remember that whether it’s letting a four year old hang breakable glass ornaments, or handing a vintage Star Wars toy over to be played with—sometimes things get busted. Blowing your top about a broken object doesn’t un-break it. Yelling about writing on the TV stand doesn’t make the furniture clean.
And we also try to remember this: we can always get new stuff. But our kids are the only truly irreplaceable part of our home. We recommend that you try to keep this in mind while sweeping up great-grandma’s 90 year-old china plate that just bit the dust.
It’ll be OK. Bring it around. Hug your kids. And have a great day.
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