A Subtle Reminder

I was driving Ben to school this morning, after having dropped off Mitchell and Claire at Suzi's house, and he reminded me of something.

I was frustrated already, because in my rush to get out the door this morning I had forgotten the diaper bag, so I had to make an extra trip to Suzi's house. I was driving on a road that had a speed limit of 45, and the person in front of me was driving at 35 MPH, much to my agitation. I did what I usually do in that situation- talked to myself (since the driver of the other car can't hear me), and said, "The speed limit is FORTY FIVE. FORTY FIVE people. Come ON!!!"

Ben, from the far back seat of the car, very quietly said, "Mom, you don't have to get mad."
Me: "What did you say buddy?"
Ben: "You don't have to get mad. It doesn't matter."
Me: "I know, but it's really frustrating."
Ben: "Mom, it doesn't matter if you're driving, it doesn't matter if you have enough money or not, it doesn't matter if you have a house or not, what matters is that you have a family. What matters is if your family is good or not."

My frustration immediately died.

Ben is spot on. Nothing that frustrates us in a given day really matters, unless we lose sight of what's really important in our lives. I thank my Heavenly Father for the real blessings in my life- my husband, my children, all of our extended family, and friends who give us such support and love.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Two observations tonight. First, I have extremely intelligent children- almost too smart for their own good sometimes! Second, that they are also very strong willed sales people.

One example: a conversation that I had with Claire tonight. She had been using potty words (like poo), and I had to put a little hot sauce on her tongue to remind her that was not acceptable. After this, she cried and screamed ( despite the drink of milk and piece of bread to put out the imagined flames). Later in the evening, I had to remind her once again the consequences of using that type of language. She responded, "Mom, time out is worse than hot sauce. Really. I scream and cry every time! You should put me in time out instead." This clued me in to the fact that I truly had found the right thing to persuade her to behave.

Ben is the same way! He has been grounded from chewing gum until June, because he's taken to spitting it out in odd places, like the bathroom floor, or the back seat of the car. When I reminded him of the fact that he was grounded, he said, "Mom, you seriously think you'll remember that for that long? I'm only six, and I can't even remember what happened last month. What happens if you forget?"

I love it when I get to hear their minds working. :)