Poor V, has had a rough go with facial injuries this year! We went to Danny's parents house after Danny and his brothers ran in the Tough Mudder. See prior post. Patrick flew in from CA, so we wanted to see him while he was in town. Well, the cousins were having a great time running around after church on Sunday. I asked them to stop running and about 5 seconds later (literally), V was screaming. She hit her eye, right under her eyebrow on the wall/doorframe of the dining room! Ouch! I wish I had handled it better, but it was not one of my best parenting moments! I was like, "Really? Again?!! Right after I ask you to stop running?!" I was ticked. I felt like Danny's family thought I was the meanest mother in all the world. They clearly weren't thinking about how many times she has injured her face this year, about how I had been parenting on my own all weekend, and how I was pregnant, hormonal, and had vomited probably 10 + times that weekend. I felt very judged and like they were trying to take over/ overstep my parenting by taking her quickly away from me before I could apologize and get her the ice she needed, which I was already about 4 steps away from. Uggh! In-law things can be oh so hard. We do not understand each other at all, even though I think they have good intentions. Then, I was embarrassed and crying for not handling it better in front of Danny's family, so had to take a break/drive in the car while Danny and Geemaw helped her with her eye and I cried my eyes out in anger, tiredness, and frustration. Thank you Paige for calming me down on the phone. That's what best friends are for, right? It was nice to help me laugh and hear that my family is not the only crazy one. I am not proud of the way I handled it. I do care when my kids get hurt. It upsets me greatly and I don't want them to have scars all over their faces. I share this because stuff like this is a very real part of our crazy life. Plus, one day, maybe my kids will read things like this and it will help them in their parenting endeavors and in their relationships with their in-laws.
2 comments:
You know, parental scalding is there for a reason. If they do something wrong like that, I can't just be all smiles and say stuff like, "oh sweetie, you are so wonderful for NOT listening to me when you have a history of hurting yourself!"!!! That's ridiculous! I'm with you 100% on this one. They need to know that we do get frustrated and that is not acceptable behavior, especially after we have warned them and asked them to stop. You're a great mom, don't ever doubt that!
You are such a wonderful parent, Brooke, but everyone has their off moments. I am sure V never doubted that you love her and want her to feel better! But I do agree with Loana; there is a reason we react like that!
In-law relationships are so very hard. But I think forgiving ourselves for being human is harder.
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