This week the girls have been going stir crazy which has made their behavior....less than ideal. I have been going stir crazy AND have been trying to still enforce some basic rules while trying to understand its not completely their fault. Yesterday was particularly bad. We decided to bribe the girls with a trip to the park. IF they could behave well (meaning relatively well for the circumstances) we would take them to the park after dinner. If they didn't behave well they wouldn't go. They both know we mean it when we say it because Kadence had to stay home from the park last time. It was a nice little learning experience for them both. They weren't super amazing before lunch and I thought neither one would be going. Luckily after a few reminders they were really pretty good. They both ate dinner and totally forgot about their reward. When I reminded them, they lit up!
It wasn't the easiest thing for me to go to the park or to use crutches in the sand, but it was totally worth it and the girls needed it so much! Right when we approached the play area we were approached by a couple who was there with their grandkids. They asked what happened to our family. I LOVE when people just ask instead of staring and guessing. I explained that Kadence had scoliosis and that I was in a car accident. They were relieved to know she wasn't in the car accident with me, yet felt for both of us. We kept busy chatting while the kids played. It was so nice, it was like what I imagine things used to be years ago. It was just a friendly neighborly chat and was nice.
At one point one of the grandsons was throwing sand. They asked him not to and he continued. The grandma excused herself to go handle the situation and as she was leaving the grandpa said, "Be Kind." That really hit me. If it was me in that situation I doubt I would be very kind. Of course my kids would get a warning or two, but after that I get my mommy game face and mean voice. Do I need to be mean in that situation? Absolutely not. You can be kind while still getting the point across most of the time. It reminded me of something else that has stuck with me for over a year now. While in the waiting area of the temple for David's cousin Ali's sealing Davids uncle, Brian, made a comment that has stuck with me. He was talking about some dating fun his son, Andrew, was having and his new girlfriend. (Who is now his wife) He had mentioned that Andrew handled things very kindly. He then said, "Kindness in all things." That has stuck with me since then and I think about it often. (That whole story probably doesn't make absolute sense to everyone, but it does to me) I am so glad that I have periodic reminders to handle situations with kindness and especially be kind with my children. They are the most precious things to me in this life and I need to treat them with kindness. They need to know without any doubt that their mommy loves them and will always be here when they need me.
All in all in was a great trip to the park, the girls were SO tired when we got home and we had a few tired meltdowns from Shelby which doesn't happen too often.
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