Day 1, A Lesson On Being Sick and Being A Mom, Too

I thought it was reasonable to let her know in advance: “Mom doesn’t feel good. I have no patience today, so you’re going to have to listen well.”

As if that would happen.

But we did manage to have a good day. After lunch, when it finally warmed up, we took the bicycle out for another test drive. We were practicing taking off by ourselves without falling over. The only reason anyone would fall directly over is because they insist they must sit on the seat of the bike before doing anything with any pedals.

After a short time, I learned that just because I started off riding a certain way, didn’t mean it was going to work for her. So I let her sit on the seat before finding a good pedal to push down, and it all worked out for her.

Later in the afternoon, it was off to the grocery store, where she insisted on pushing the cart. Or riding the cart, as the case may be. Try explaining grocery aisle traffic to a 6-year-old and having it stick. 🙂 “You could kill someone doing that!” didn’t seem to get the message across.

Any time I felt like I was on the edge of losing patience, I stopped and repeated myself. “Mommy is not feeling well today. You’re going to have to listen to what I say and not force me to keep repeating.” This is not a recording. Ok, it is.

I’m beginning to think 6-year-olds have 2 second attention spans. I know. What was my first clue?