We must not let our desire to make our children happy cause us to be insensitive to others. When our children were young, an incident came up where both girls had been invited to parties on a day that my husband and I would be out of town. The girls were disappointed, but they accepted the fact that they couldn’t go. I should have left it at that.
Tom and I had discussed possibilities of people we might ask to take the girls to their parties and then decided they’d just have to miss them. Unfortunately, the next day I called my mother to see if she could drive the girls. Of course, I shouldn’t have talked to anyone without discussing it with Tom first. I was so heart-broken for the girls that I failed to stop and consider how I was imposing on others. It was a very inconvenient time in my mother’s life. She had a lot going on. I just selfishly wanted our children to be happy so I could enjoy our trip without feeling guilty, but I felt even guiltier about imposing on Mom and going against the decision Tom and I had made. I ended up apologizing to Mom and letting her off the hook. I also apologized to Tom. The girls did not go to their parties, but everyone still had a good time.
Disappointment is part of life. Our children need to learn how to handle it. They also need to learn how to be sensitive to the needs of others. Its important to be aware of what behaviors we are modeling for our children.
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