Saturday, June 23, 2012

Let the Battles Begin

Wow.
That was hard.
Took the wind right out of my sails.    {Take deep breath here.}

What was supposed to be a fun-filled evening of fair food and fireworks with friends took an ugly turn when my dear sweet child refused to even taste a bite of hamburger. Luckily we had gotten the fair food to-go, so this unsightly train wreck took place in the comforts of our own home. But it didn't lessen the sting of standing my ground and backing my husband in this "Battle of the Burger".

In a showdown that lasted a good hour at least, we begged. we reasoned. we bargained. If we were birds, we would have chewed it up and forced it into her mouth.  But in the end, the choice was hers.

She would. not. budge.

So I had my first real taste of watching my daughter experience the emotional pain of tough love. Oh the hurt that it caused in my heart. I would have given anything to take that away from her. To bring back her smile and an evening full of giggles. A thousand times I would have caved and let her move on to eating something else, but this was my husband's turn. He doesn't get to do much of the disciplining with me being the one at home all day, so when the opportunity arises I need to step back and let him take the lead.  Our children need to grow up seeing Daddy and Mommy as a team. Not second guessing and undermining the other's decisions. So I had to let go of this one.

Despite our plans of watching some late-night fireworks (would have been Aubrey's first time) we had to rearrange the evening to accommodate an early bed time. She and I still got to read a few bed time stories, but I was reading through tears. Tears for my daughter who was hurting {through her own choices}, tears of questioning my parenting {was she old enough to understand?} and tears for knowing this is the first of many heartaches that will be cast on me as I finally understand what it means when a parent says, "This hurts me more than it hurts you."
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