My SweetGirl is just that. Good hearted, kind, loving and sweet through and through. She is also lacking a little bit in motivation. (foreshadowing)
Well, SweetGirl came to me after school today with a complaint. She had been given the opportunity to play a piano song in her class. She sat, she played, she was proud. For a moment. She was quickly followed by three other girls in her class who played “longer and harder songs, one of them was really good Mom and one was just showing off”.
Instead of being the supportive nurturing Mama I usually am; I was a snappy short tempered bitch. My reply. “Well, maybe those girls practice more then the bare minimum required of them. Maybe their mothers don’t have to nag them every single day to get their piano done. How many times did you practice this week? If you want to succeed and get better you have to work at it.” WHAT THE ! Who was that woman?
SweetGirl did not know what hit her. She had no idea that I had a headache from hell, that I had just picked cat poop off the floor, that the insurance company had screwed up again, that I had 14 things on the go, and about 6 hours of work to get done in the next two. In short, that poor kid was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
As tears started in her eyes, matching ones welled up in mine. Mommy Fail. I turned it around as best I could, told her if she worked hard she could do anything. Had the ability to be an amazing piano player, IS in fact an amazing little piano player. Hugged her. Apologized and still felt like a big ole jerk.
Sometimes it’s hard to be a Mama in the Suburbs.
Sorry baby. I will do better.
Now I understand your comment on my blog, murraysmomma. I so get it! Sometimes, stress gets the best of us.
I teach piano – well, I used to before I ran out of patience when students refused to practice – and have found that if a person doesn’t love, love, love playing, it’s probably a waste of energy. That said, it sounds like your daughter does love to play. The fact that she felt bad about her performance says a lot.
I love your blog!
-MM
If it helps, my mother actually said stuff like to me all the time and I am (relatively) unscathed.
I have to admit her approach did make me study and/or practice more. 😛
You did the best you could and you tried to fix it. That is what is important.
Ugh! I’ve been the mom in these moments and I know it’s awful. Sometimes we all just…snap, a little. She’ll be okay though. It sounds like you turned it around and maybe it’s actually good for our kids to know, in some ways, that moms can be imperfect, too. But still — ugh!
Be easy with yourself, okay?
You apologized..and admitted to her, basically, that you have faults, too! I think that means more to her than you know.
She knows you love her.