My challenge to myself is to find something meaningful to write about almost every day...
Today Griffin had an appointment at the orthodontist. I always love it when I get to spend some one-on-one time with one of my kids. It may only be enough conversation to fill the 10 minutes it takes to get to the dentist, but that's 10 minutes that my kid has my undivided attention, and I like to make the most of it. I try not to nag about the chores that need to be done after school, or lecture about homework; I try to just see how my baby is feeling that day, and see if there is anything I can say or do to make that particular day a little brighter. Yeah, yeah, I know, that sounds a little canned, but it's the truth. Because normally, I'm doing the whole nagging/lecturing thing.
Grif is fine, by the way. Wants to take guitar lessons, and play in the jazz band in jr. high. That's what we talked about.
Griffin got his upper braces on last appointment, about a month ago. You should know at this point that we are going to the ASDOH Dental Clinic for his ortho, which is the clinic associated with the dental school at ATSU where I work. Awesome students, great program. Anywho, three of his brackets had fallen off his teeth, and I have been giving him TONS of grief about not eating ice and popcorn kernels, and keeping foreign objects out of his mouth, since "you have already pulled THREE BRACKETS off your teeth, young man!!" I've been riding his butt like crazy, hounding him when he brushes, etc. I worry sometimes about how hard I ride that poor child.
Well, turns out she didn't cement his brackets on right, so it wasn't Grif's fault. Plus, she said his gums were in even better shape than when she first saw him - so his brushing, flossing, and swishing has been impeccable.
When we walked out of the clinic, I put my arm around him and apologized for being so hard on him the last couple of weeks, and told him how proud I was of how good his oral hygiene had been. He smiled at me and said, "Aw, mom, it's okay!" - and, perhaps most importantly, I think he meant it. First step was remembering that I had been so hard on him, and not accepting it as my god-given parental right, but rather as a choice I made about how to treat my child; second is mustering the gumption to acknowledge it.
Lesson for today? I can never, ever think twice about apologizing to my kids and telling them I was wrong. I know we parents hear that all the time, but there are a lot of things we hear all the time but that we don't do, either because we don't think to, or we are too proud, or we think that we know everything (as is often the case with me and Larry). The best part of the exchange was his response, because he forgave me - and I hope that we had a part in teaching him that, too.
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