Forget? Forgive.

Hi Friends!

Its confession time.

I have some guilt to report.

First of all,

it was early dismissal at school today
and I forgot and wasn't there to pick Lily up.
 

Did you heard me?

I can hardly say it out loud,

let me repeat...

"I forgot it was early dismissal I and wasn't there to pick Lily up."

Our trusty neighbor was also not there to grab her, which is our mutual, vice versa,

 "Go To Option",

 in case of emergency.

This was no emergency.

I just plain forgot.
 

And if you want the whole mindless, selfish, story,

I was busy trying on my suits for my work convention next week.

 

Yes, it was on the calendar.

Yes, it was also on the white board.

Yes, I was the one to write it.

And I still forgot.

It was my first day working from home

with early dismissal.

Darin is usually home on Wednesdays the standard day for early dismissal.

This is no excuse.
 

I felt terrified and horrified
when I realized, while juggling life,
I just dropped my most precious ball in the air.
 

I will put it on my work calendar

and (hopefully) never forget again.

Lily is fine.

Meaning, it wasn't pleasant or comfortable,

but she isn't traumatized.
She took it in stride, as best she could,
as she does about many things.
Her favorite quote
(that she reminds Charlotte of often)
is:
"go with the flow."
 

I gave her big hugs and apologies
and a well earned after school snack.

I allowed some unusual free time before homework, for recovery from my mistake.

Then at homework time,

I left Lily alone in peace and quiet.

I was busy cleaning the disaster play area of the basement*

(another post about that basement coming up soon)

Lily then reported to me, her spelling was done, but she forgot her math homework at school.

So, I went off on her

about focus and organization.

"how many times do I have to tell you?"

That sort of stuff.

Does anyone see the irony of this?

 I didn't for far too long.

When the light bulb appeared,

I suggested we get out of the house
and go outside to play
with a huge attempt to turn this day around.

Then we had a little chat

about the things we forgot today

(my forgetfulness being way bigger than hers)

We talked about forgetting and forgiving and putting plans in place to avoid
forgetting in the future.

We talked about love.

We talked about the fact that

 its OK to make mistakes.

We both felt better after our chat.

Lily will get her consequences at school for homework tomorrow.

Lily is also planning to get there early and use her free time to complete her math homework.

I decided our home should be the safe place from the outside world.

Not the place that gives you double the consequence when you mess up.

We all mess up.

I want to take this perspective

more easily next time.

I want to be warm and loving to Lily,

when she is already down on herself.

Today, my initial reaction

was to also get down on her.

Not nice, Friends.
I admit.  I sucked at least twice today.
Forgetting and then preaching about remembering.
So not cool.

I know its all a balancing act.

But for today,

I want to walk on the side of empathy.

With just a little understanding, my girl
bounces back quickly.
Here is she is after bath tonight.
As you can see she is over today's events.
The show goes on.

 

The Star still shines.