Kids just say the darndest things!

Every once in a while I revert back to my children in a blog because of something that's happened that's truly warmed my heart. This occassion is one of them!

Last night I was a bit harsh and snappy with my daughter whose chatterbox mouth was steering me away from my search for quiet (...and my need to complete a thought without constant interruption.) Because we've raised our children with very little TV, I have an automatic guilt trip for turning it on, but maybe I should have because Mommy wasn't being a good playmate!

I felt bad about being unfairly snappy and, in trying to teach a good lesson, I spoke to my daughter about it this morning as she was getting ready for school. "That's right, Mom, and I'm sorry too for being crabby when you didn't sing to me before bed." And so we continued with our morning and I added that this morning, I was going to let her get ready on her own without nagging about getting dressed, brushing teeth, and hurrying up to eat (something we go through daily and it wears on me as well as her I'm sure!)

After a successful morning without nagging and getting out the door ahead of time for once (which I still can't figure out how it happened without my nagging) she went on..."because I will be able to teach my children how to prepare themselves for school without all that 'do this, do that, blah blah blah' and they won't have to hear me nagging at them because my children won't like it when I nag." I wondered where she got off talking about having children of her own and thinking about how they would feel if she, as a mother, talked to them a certain way. SHE'S 5 and she's talking about how she'll teach her children!

Lesson learned from a 5 year old this morning is, they're brilliantly smart and incredibly capable and willing. Using the right approach and communicating a sense of trust in them is something I'll need to work on because my goal as a parent is to raise my children so that they are capable of being independent when they leave the nest. Treating my daughter as such will help their self esteem greatly as well as make my morning more stressfree!