Last Monday was one of those days. It was one of those days where tiny little things, as innocuous as single, solitary ants suddenly converge in a mass of creatures that can fell a rainforest.

(Stock photo credit: cbicenhour)

In the midst of this, was Claire. All she really wanted was for me to help her tie tiny ribbon bows on tiny chicks made of bits of feather or fluffy balls. And, while you’re at it, can you please help glue together more chicks? She’s making a baby bird family, and they need a nest. Why couldn’t I just take a break and help her make a nest out of ribbons? Any good momma bird would do that for her baby chick.

I’d take a break every now and then to tie a bow or press two fluffy balls together with glue. I mean, it didn’t look like I was doing anything at all…that is the danger of working and playing on the same computer. Momma just sits there, typing. Who knows what she’s really doing over there.

Plus, Claire couldn’t see all the ants.

Dinner wasn’t even the relaxing time it normally is.  It was over in a flash, and we were right back at it.  Daddy had to work late; the project I was working on was teetering on the brink of disaster, and when it was finally time to get PJs on, I was at my wit’s end.

The proverbial camel’s back was heaving under the pressure. What would it be that broke it in two?

And right on cue, we got in a huge fight about something silly.

Actually, in my defense, it’s not silly. You can’t throw your glasses off in the middle of doing who knows what and not know where they go. They go in your glasses case. Anywhere other than than is a recipe for the crunching sound of delicate glasses, and that’s just not acceptable.

And how can you forget where you put them?  How can you forget??

There were angry faces and short, curt tones.
There were tears.
There was the marching downstairs to tell Daddy what she’d done.

She was devastated, and I’ll be honest, part of me was glad. How terrible.

She was sobbing now, so ashamed that she’d done something terrible with her glasses.

And, all of a sudden, I came to my senses.

She’s four.

Yep, she’s four years old, even if she acts 14 going on 40 for most of the day. So far, four has been awesome, but it’s still four. She’s four, and they’re glasses.

She hasn’t had these glasses long at all, and although she remembers everything to the n-th degree, she’s four. She’s going to make mistakes. She’s going to forget things.

Even I had forgotten. I’d accidentally left my own Glasses of 110% Perfection on when I left my desk and tried to look at her with them…and that’s just not fair.

Yes, we spent 15 minutes looking for her glasses.
Yes, they could have been broken.
But, we found them, and they weren’t.

I apologized for getting upset with her. I explained why I was frustrated and apologized for taking it out on her. She apologized and promised to do better about remembering.

And, I promised to do better about remembering, too.

She’s four.

What’s something you’ve forgotten lately that you need to remember?

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