E disappeared from the backyard this evening (don't worry she's fine). I was doing the dishes with my mom in the kitchen, and periodically checking on her while she was circling on her new bike outside my window. Well, of course my heart stopped when I peeked out the sliding glass door to see our gate opened and she wasn't within eyesight. This was especially troublesome because we had just discussed that she's not allowed to open the gate unless we're with her, and she needed to stay in the backyard! As I flew down the steps screaming her name, I pictured all the terrible fates that could befall my precious daughter. I caught site of her red mushroom shaped helmet out of the corner of my eye. She was on the other side of our chain link fence nibbling on the tomatoes from our vines. She immediately sensed my terror, and noted quickly that she was in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
As we ascended the stairs my heart was slowly returning to a regular pace, but she was blubbering. I asked her to meet me in her room then I took a long deep breath trying to gain my composure. I started off by asking her if she knew why she was having this Time-Out. She whimpered something about because she was eating tomatoes. Our conversation went back and forth about the possibilities of what could happen when I didn't know where she was. This, I think finally got through to her. My intentions were not to give her nightmares about being taken by big scary men (a personal nightmare) but to really increase her awareness of her actions and consequences. It was tricky to maneuver this conversation without frightening her too badly. But man, this stuff is scary any way you cut it: Dogs, people, cars - all can hurt her.
This conversation also led us down another vein in the Stranger Danger talk. Eating things without asking Mama. We did a bit of role play, and I think we laid a good foundation for continued discussion on the topic.
Whew! This is the part of parenting that really hits home of how important your job is!
Looks like I have a head start on my 5th goal for my New Years Resolutions.
PS Totally getting a lock for that fence...
Whoa! That must have been scary. You handled that so well with El. I think she did certainly learn something new today.
ReplyDeleteit's amazing how, as parents, we are continually teachers...(and WE are continually taught)
ReplyDelete--to have this little life form, entrusted to our care, and to teach it EVERYthing it needs to know. it's daunting. i liked how initially E thought she was in trouble for eating tomatoes; i find it continually challenging to put myself into the mind of a child, and even francis we think "should know better" in so many things, but often, when it comes down to it, there's so many times when he's thinking "tomatoes", and we're thinking the worst...(sigh)
you done good, mama!