Making Me Proud

Our time since school ended has had extreme highs and extreme lows.

I don't get too into the lows, but I will say that we have been working with Lucy on being polite. She has these moments when she is incredibly pleasant and makes very nice requests like "Mom, may I please have ..." It is like music to my mothering ears. Unfortunately, she also has moments when she sounds very demanding and a little rude, and I don't think she even realizes it. So, we have spent time asking her to rephrase her demands so that they are requests instead. It has been a slow process.

Now back to the highs. Last night was a high for a lot of reasons. First of all, we got to have dinner at a friend's house. Steve and I enjoy talking with adults and the girls all get along pretty well. We had the luxury of having an additional adult, Miss Connie, on hand who played with the two older girls upstairs. I don't worry that Lucy will do anything bad in these situations when we're not around, but as an admitted control freak, I will confess that I just want to be there to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Last night I let go of my need to control and sat downstairs with Caroline and the adults. The girls played nicely upstairs, we had dinner, the girls played a little more, and then we headed home.

As we were leaving the house, Miss Connie came over to say that both girls were sweet, kind, and so very polite. I have to admit, this made me smile and it made me genuinely proud of the girls, particularly Lucy. As Steve and I say, Lucy always rises to the occasion. When we are out in public or when she is under the care of someone else, she always tries very hard to do the right thing.

As a mother, there are very few things that I get really fired up about. In general, my goal is raise good people. Not good students or good athletes - just good people.

So, well done, Lucy and Caroline. You are making your mother very proud. Except when you are demanding Scooby Doo fruit snacks. A little less proud in those moments.