I worked a long day at Edgewood - running around getting things in place for our activities, making sure residents were happy, tying up loose ends. All the typical stuff I do in a day at work. I came home and sat down for maybe five minutes before I got back up to start working on dinner. And I made a beautiful dinner. If I may say so myself. (No pictures. I was entirely too busy to think about that!) Then, tired to the core, I picked up my phone to call Matthew home for dinner.
What he said: Awwwwwww. Really? What I heard: Mom, I don't care that you worked late today and you're tired, but you came home and made a nice dinner for me anyway. Do you ever do that? Do you hear your kids' frustration in needing to end their play time as a personal insult? Does their disappointment make you feel unloved and unappreciated? Before I went down that road with Matthew's complaint, I had to tell myself, "I'm sure he didn't mean that." And I bet your kids don't mean it, either!
2 comments:
awww yes....isn't dinner time the most tiring meal of the day for mom's. You must be a really good cook to whip something wonderful together when you had such a tiring day. I admit, I tend to try to make something super easy when I am just burnt out. Your story made me think of Lily saying to me yesterday, when I was standing in her room telling her to clean up before dinner, she said, "Why are you in my room." Ouch...my little girl already with attitude and likely not knowing what she said is rude. I explained it to her. Yet, I think you are right, I am sure our kids don't really mean a lot that they say...whether they are young children or teenagers. hope you are having a good day...hugs***chera
Chera - Especially because our children seem to be so self-centered, I think we need to have grace when we hear what they say. For the most part, they haven't really learned that what they say can be heard differently than what they meant.
Our time would probably be better spent helping them learn about the nuances of communication, rather than inserting our own meaning into what they're saying. ;)
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