Parenting Tip of the Week--Laughing at Yourself

Sometimes in the frantic scheme of life, I get so caught up in the idea of being perfect that I fall short of being the perfect parent.  Sound familiar?  In fact, my sweet 2nd grader reminded me of some of my imperfections bright and early this morning.  Little flaws like impatience, haste, busyness... 

Ahhhh, 8:00 and my children are delivered to their classrooms.  Looks like I have just enough time to get a cup of ice from the lunchroom before my students come.  Suddenly, Tate's teacher appears in my doorway.   While completing his morning work, Tate told her he was hungry and had not had any breakfast.  She came down to inquire as to why he had not eaten.

I said, "Tate, why are you hungry?  What happened to your pop tart?  You had one when you left the house."  His sheepish reply: "I lost it on the way to school, but I was afraid to tell you.  I didn't want you to be late."  What?  On the way to school!  How do you lose a pop tart in a mini-van?  At this point there was only one response I could give.  A lecture on responsibility?  Anger because now I would have to race back out to the parking lot?

Nope!  I burst out laughing and gave my little stinker a huge hug!  Then I hiked out to my van in the furthest corner of the school parking lot to scavenge for his lost breakfast.  Sometimes, parenting requires some plain old, good-natured laughter! 

Just a reminder that our kids don't need us to be perfect; they just need a little hug, laughter, and humanity from their parents once in awhile.  Take a minute to laugh with your kids today!  "Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your heart" Mort Walker.  Wishing you a week filled with joy and laughter! Shannon :-)