Tomorrow you’re heading out of town. Or today is the last day of your trip. Or next week is their week with their mom.
The point is you’re at a point of transition—or maybe approaching a transition.
So why are you spending it like this? Why are you choosing to pick this battle? Why are you on them about something so insignificant?
When you’re missing them tomorrow or next week, you’re not going to be glad that by being really stern you sped up bedtime by two and half minutes. When you’re looking back on this trip, you will not remember whether you had to ask them an extra three times to do something. You will not care about their attitude. You will not dwell on the mess they made.
What you will do is regret the argument, regret the conflict, regret that it went this way. You’ll be kicking yourself for being such a hard-ass, for making something out of nothing. You’ll wish you’d let it go. You’ll wish you’d been more helpful, more understanding, more focused on what the real opportunity was there—which was connection, which was a little more time together, which was laughing instead of fighting.
Ok? So give them (and yourself) the gift of choosing this over that right now.
P.S. If you want to keep getting better at these parenting choices, you need more than good intentions. You need a practice. The Daily Dad book and its companion Daily Dad Five Year Reflection Journal help you to build one.
Five minutes a day to read, reflect, reset, and show up better tomorrow. Watch as your daily practice informs your actions, gradually closing the gap between the parent you are and the parent you want to be—one who acts with more intention, patience, and wisdom.
Get your copy of The Daily Dad and the Daily Dad Five Year Reflection Journal.
