Page 18 - Perfect Parents, Perfect Children, and Other Fairy Tales

smile, thinking that she could handle that one that
day. She never was annoyed when problems came

up because she knew they would happen. She just
didn’t know what they would be. She would just
say to herself, “Oh, there it is!” To her, every day

had a surprise just waiting to happen. She found
amusement in waiting to see what it would be.

And when it did happen, she could just smile as she
dealt with it, because then it was over with and she
could just move on. It didn’t have to ruin her whole

day.

I thought about that all afternoon as the little ones
slept. It was worth a try, so I tried hard to change
my outlook. It was difficult, because with as many

people as we had in our family, I figured we needed
to plan on at least three disasters a day, maybe
more. I wasn’t sure I could handle that many.

We had just started eating dinner that night when a
cup of milk decided to try to move out of the way

of a child’s arm and came to rest in a horizontal
position. I took a deep breath, smiled, and just said,
“Grab a towel!”

I learned a few things that day. I learned that it’s

easier to just stay calm then it is to be annoyed. I
learned that when there is a disaster, it should be up
to the child to help fix the problem.

And I learned that if I am smiling, everyone else

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