Somewhere, sometime I read a piece of parenting advice that said: "If you have to run an errand, never go alone. Always take a child along for the ride." I thought it sounded excellent at the time. In fact, I have made sure to remind my husband of it often!
However, I have to admit that of late my own personal parenting refrain has been something more along the lines of: "If your husband is home and you have a chance to get out alone, take it and run. And don't look back!"
I know. Sad, but true.
Which is why when I needed to run a quick errand to the waterfront to pick up a paper kite from the street vendor for school tomorrow, I tried to tiptoe past the open door to my daughters' bedroom where Eva was oh-so-quietly coloring a giant Tinkerbell book from cover to cover. But, she caught me. And she asked: "Mommy, where are you going?"
You know how this story ends. She wanted to come along for the ride, as did Isabel, and before I knew it we were on a girls'-only mission to buy a kite. Of course a girls'-only mission could never be a kite-only mission so after the street vendor we headed to our new Jumbo store. We paid little heed to groceries (except the newly stocked and imported Turkey Hill ice cream varieties!) but spent quite awhile perusing the end-of-season clothing on sale. At Eva's urging we hit the pet-supply aisle as well and purchased some lovely wooden fruits to sharpen and clean Cheese's teeth. (They must work because he bit her later and drew blood!)
We even picked up a surprise gift for a friend who is going through a hard time and dropped it off at her house on the way home.
But most importantly: Through it all, we talked.
We talked about money and about tithing, about giving to the Lord not because we expect something in return but just because we love Him. We talked about how He is so faithful to give us everything we need. I shared a personal example of how recently Daddy and I felt God leading us to make a special gift to some special friends, and then how He turned around and gave us back the exact same amount in another special way.
Isabel said that she has been thinking about Haiti and wanting to give some of her own money to help people there. She said she wants to go with me to visit, and take soup packets and make soup for all the little children and hand it out to them to eat. I told Eva and Isabel about other children who have creatively raised money for orphans and their eyes lit up and they began discussing lemonade stands and selling cookies and ways they could be involved as well.
Eva asked about the hard time our friend is going through and though it would not have been appropriate to share all the details, I could say enough that the girls were moved to pray for this family and the situation they are facing.
We talked about how important it is not to gossip and share private information about other people behind their backs. We discussed not to ever keep secrets that could hurt another person, and especially no secrets from our parents!
We were in tune with each other and the trip was sweet and afterward I was so glad that I took that advice I'd heard somewhere, sometime rather than the one I've been following lately. I am so thankful for my precious girls.
However, I have to admit that of late my own personal parenting refrain has been something more along the lines of: "If your husband is home and you have a chance to get out alone, take it and run. And don't look back!"
I know. Sad, but true.
Which is why when I needed to run a quick errand to the waterfront to pick up a paper kite from the street vendor for school tomorrow, I tried to tiptoe past the open door to my daughters' bedroom where Eva was oh-so-quietly coloring a giant Tinkerbell book from cover to cover. But, she caught me. And she asked: "Mommy, where are you going?"
You know how this story ends. She wanted to come along for the ride, as did Isabel, and before I knew it we were on a girls'-only mission to buy a kite. Of course a girls'-only mission could never be a kite-only mission so after the street vendor we headed to our new Jumbo store. We paid little heed to groceries (except the newly stocked and imported Turkey Hill ice cream varieties!) but spent quite awhile perusing the end-of-season clothing on sale. At Eva's urging we hit the pet-supply aisle as well and purchased some lovely wooden fruits to sharpen and clean Cheese's teeth. (They must work because he bit her later and drew blood!)
We even picked up a surprise gift for a friend who is going through a hard time and dropped it off at her house on the way home.
But most importantly: Through it all, we talked.
We talked about money and about tithing, about giving to the Lord not because we expect something in return but just because we love Him. We talked about how He is so faithful to give us everything we need. I shared a personal example of how recently Daddy and I felt God leading us to make a special gift to some special friends, and then how He turned around and gave us back the exact same amount in another special way.
Isabel said that she has been thinking about Haiti and wanting to give some of her own money to help people there. She said she wants to go with me to visit, and take soup packets and make soup for all the little children and hand it out to them to eat. I told Eva and Isabel about other children who have creatively raised money for orphans and their eyes lit up and they began discussing lemonade stands and selling cookies and ways they could be involved as well.
Eva asked about the hard time our friend is going through and though it would not have been appropriate to share all the details, I could say enough that the girls were moved to pray for this family and the situation they are facing.
We talked about how important it is not to gossip and share private information about other people behind their backs. We discussed not to ever keep secrets that could hurt another person, and especially no secrets from our parents!
We were in tune with each other and the trip was sweet and afterward I was so glad that I took that advice I'd heard somewhere, sometime rather than the one I've been following lately. I am so thankful for my precious girls.
No comments:
Post a Comment