Yesterday morning, we had a lovely sleep in. No-one got out of bed before 7:00 am. Yes, that is sleeping in at our house. The trouble with sleeping in during the middle of the week is that it puts our routine off. So, we scrambled a little bit to get going on time.
Tom and Siobhan were out the door just after 8:00 leaving me an hour to get ready and get Rebecca to gymnastics camp.
I had decided to let Rebecca sleep until 8:00 and figured she would be able to get herself ready while I was getting ready. I put out breakfast for her, and woke her before I hopped in the shower telling her to go eat breakfast and then come up and get dressed because we were in a hurry.
I broke the cardinal rule. DO NOT (under any circumstances) tell your children you are in a hurry.
I thought it was going well. She went downstairs, and when I got out of the shower she said she had eaten most of her breakfast but she had gotten full, so, I asked her to get her gym suit on and get dressed, and again, I said we were in a hurry. I returned to my room to get dressed too.
About 10 minutes later, I called to her and asked if she was dressed. Yes, was the answer. Please brush your teeth, I called to her. Then she would be done and ready to go.
Then, she walked into my room… half dressed.
I spoke in a crazy, calm almost whisper “Please, Rebecca, go and get the rest of your clothes on and brush your teeth” My calm voice scared even me, and Rebecca turned around to go get dressed… or so I thought.
When I was finished getting ready, I walked to Rebecca’s room and she was sitting on the bed playing with some jewelry… still half dressed.
Again, I tried to remain calm and the whisper happened again. “Rebecca, please, we are in a hurry. Can you please get your clothes on before mommy gets really upset?”
She put her shorts on and I asked if she had brushed her teeth. No, she hadn’t.
1…2…3… 4... 5… 6... 7…8... 9... 10
“Please, brush your teeth and when you are done, come downstairs so we can leave.
I went downstairs and found her half full bowl of yogurt. She is not a breakfast person, so I don’t give her very much breakfast as it is, so I really need her to eat what she is given.
When she came downstairs, I explained that she needed to eat the yogurt and started spooning it into her mouth. It was then that she copped and attitude and told me “I can do it myself!”
Good-bye calm
“THEN DO IT” I yelled completely frustrated.
She started to cry.
I felt horrible.
We were late.
And that is why I will never again tell a child that we are in a hurry because it seems to mean to them that they need to do everything they can to drive me nuts!
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