You take what you can get...

Sometimes as a parent you take the little victories where you can get them. It's amazing the things that will make you say, "Yes! Sucess for today!"

Yesterday Lauren was running late getting out the door for school. She goes early twice a week for choir practice, and when her ride arrived, she had no shoes. I told her to hurry upstairs and find some school shoes. Instead she looked down at the shoe basket by the front door and spotted a pair of Sunday shoes. "I'll just wear these mom." I could see several potential problems with this shoe selection. This particular black shoe had a bit of a heel, plus she was planning to slip them on her bare feet. Not really the best plan for all day at school I didn't think. I informed her of my concerns and encouraged her to run upstairs for her other shoes. "No mom, I'll be fine!" And out the door she ran. I let her go. It wasn't easy though. It's hard to let your kids make bad decisions. I was pretty sure her day was going to be a little on the miserable side, and despite what kids might think, parents really don't try to ruin their kids' day just for kicks.

Well, she came limping home from school. Her feet were covered with band-aids that her teacher had given her. Under the band-aids were several blisters including one that had popped. She looked up at me and said, "My teacher says I shouldn't wear these shoes to school again." And then the sentence that any parent would treasure, "I kept thinking all day how I should have listened to my mom."

Thank you. Thank you very much.