You know those days when everything is going well … then it’s not!
This is a story of what happened to me several years ago…
It was a crisp fall day. I had 5 young kids and we were homeschooling. My oldest was in Junior High and performing in the choir concert that night. I’m sure we had a day full of fun and creative projects. My husband was working late.
Pancakes for dinner seemed like a good choice.
As is common with lots of young boys that need to eat, dress warm, and be ready to leave at a certain time, there is some level of chaos that goes into making this happen.
I’m sure I was doing my best to cheerfully do it all and arrive ready to support my daughter. Grandparents were driving an hour to attend and my husband would meet us at the concert.
“Quick, put your dishes in the sink and get to the van, we need to be there in 10 minutes”
(This is probably similar to what I said, though I can’t recall the exact words.
Up they get, let’s get moving…
Then it happened.
My son, who was 5-6 at the time dropped the glass plate on the floor and it broke.
No, it shattered!
This was not your normal shatter, but the most epic plate shatter I had ever seen! What seemed like a million little glass shards shot out in 5-10 feet in all directions! Under tables, under cabinets… all over the kitchen and dining room.
And as a bonus, each one was covered in sticky maple syrup (because, at that age, you often have lots of syrup left when the pancake is gone.)
It was as though time stood still.
I love to be on time. I had done all I could to show up on time, and now this!
My son is a very tender one and I knew he was probably already struggling inside knowing that he just made such a big mess.
I had a choice to make.
I could get frustrated and yell at the kids, I could be resentful that we were late, and upset that my plate was broken and I didn’t have time for that mess. This child would have run to the couch and hidden under pillows. He would have cried and refused to go anywhere. I’d have 4 other young kids that needed caring for while I cleaned up the mess, and his heart would have needed at least 30minutes of mom love and cuddles to calm down, and we would miss the concert.
Or… I could make a different choice.
I took a deep breath and whipped my cell phone out of my back pocket. I put a big smile on my face as I said “WOW! That was the most epic plate shatter I have ever seen!” As I shot a video of the entire thing with creative angles and excitement in my voice.
(I remember clearly where I was standing).
I assured him that it was okay and I wasn’t mad at him.
Then it went something like this: “okay everyone. Don’t touch anything. We have to go to the school. Get your coats and let’s carefully get out the front door. We will take care of this when we get home!”
We went to the concert. Everything worked out.
No trauma. No years of therapy afterward from the negative impact of a small event.
We got home from the concert and I had totally forgotten about it.
One of my sons went in first and said “mom! Remember the plate”
Oh yeah. I had forgotten.
We had everyone go around to the front door and the kids played with grandparents while I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.
It all worked out. I even got a clear floor out of this experience!
Plus a stronger bond and love with my son, and a great story to tell you.
(This is a true story by Livia Pewtress. Details may not be exact. Hopefully, I’ll update it with the actual images when I find them)
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What would the reaction be if this happened in your house?
I know that I was so grateful for all the personal work I had done in my life to calibrate my mind and heart to live intentionally and respond appropriately. What could have been tragic and traumatic ended up calm, and connected.
I truly believe that all situations in life can turn out good if we allow it.
It is my commitment to continue sharing and teaching true principles and tools to bring more joy and peace into our lives as we live more joyfully and intentionally instead of perpetuating the negative patterns that don’t work.
I’d love to support you in this journey. I’m teaching a mindset workshop next week where we will take an assessment to see how your mind sees the world. We will talk about how to improve your mindset and the direct correlation it has with the experiences you have in life and the results you are living!
It’s my holiday gift to you. Register Here: https://events.learnlivefly.com/mindset
