Good morning!
Yesterday was an exhausting day. There wasn’t one thing that made it that way (until the one thing), just lots of little things that added up.
Ina and I walked in the door from work and did the usual dinner prep/playtime routine with some naked potty training/gummy bear bribery added in the mix. I chop an onion and then help Ina find where a puzzle piece goes. I brown the meat, Ina runs to the bathroom screaming, “GUMMY BEAR!” I cut up the peppers and then barely swoop my arms under Ina’s head in time to prevent it from crashing on the floor.
You know, the usual.
I had just sat down, after taking the stuffed peppers out of the oven and popping the roasted cauliflower in, so thankful for the first night in a while to sit and do nothing when my phone rang. It was Dan.
“Hey do you want to do me a big favor?"
I knew what it was before he said anything, because Ina had found his wallet on the couch and had tried to empty its contents while I was making dinner.
He ran out of gas. He works 45 minutes away. He doesn’t have any money. The gas station attendant refused to take a credit card over the phone.
I had just changed into my pajamas, Ina was mostly naked, and I had just put dinner in the oven. I did not want to get in the car and drive for an hour and a half. I wanted to eat dinner and go to bed.
I was mad. Like, really mad, and the more I drove the more mad I got. I knew that this wasn’t something to get upset about, everyone makes mistakes like this, and to be honest, I am the queen of those types of mistakes. But telling myself that didn’t make me any less mad. Neither did singing songs to Ina -B-I-N-G-O, Five Little Speckled Frogs, and Frozen didn’t help at all. It was almost like I could feel my blood boiling.
But then I pulled into the gas station and saw Dan’s defeated face - he honestly felt horrible for dragging us out of the house.
I started to deflate. The 45 minute drive home plus 20 more rounds of B-I-N-G-O helped me to simmer down and by the time we pulled into the driveway I felt pretty silly for the way I had felt and the things I had said.
We actually really enjoyed our (lukewarm) dinner together and then played with Ina before crawling into bed.
I am writing this because I hope that next time I can extend that kind of grace from the beginning and not waste so much energy being mad. Hopefully.
<3
Have a good day!
Great outlook for the future!
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