Today I had the task of grocery shopping for my family and for Thanksgiving dinner next week. I also had the extremely important task of buying two boxes of crackers for Julia's first grade class. This morning I asked for her input as to what she wanted.
"Oh, those white cheddar square crackers and those other one's we once bought." She gets a look on her face of extreme concentration, the type you get when you ponder world peace, or why we exist, or why the top of your sock keeps sliding down to your ankle. Her hands come out in front of her and begin to frame the shape of the bag. "You know, the green bag with the crackers in it, that we got that one time?"
I have no idea what she is talking about and I promise to do my best. Later as I am unloading the car she spots the grocery bag with the crackers in it. Suddenly it's like Christmas morning as she smile's and asks "Are those the white cheddar ones I wanted?"
"Yes, and here is the other I kind I got for you." I don't know how this will go over and I am waiting for the frown and disappointment that a kid shows when they don't unwrap the Red Ryder BB Gun.
"These are the ones I was talking about! This is just what I wanted!" She is exuberant and I am in shock. They aren't in a bag and I just randomly picked something.
"Really? This is what you wanted." I'm about to bask in the glow of being the best parent in the world when I hear this.
"No, not really, but I can live with it."
"Did you just tell me you can 'live with it'"? I am floored. My seven year old just told me she could "live with it".
She just shrugs and smile's and replies, "Yeah. I think you can only buy the kind I want in Bellevue and you went shopping in Dubuque, so I can live with it."
So in one sentence she has made an excuse for my inability to get her what she wanted and she forgave me in her own way. No meltdown, no accusations, just a smile followed by "I can live with it."
