Failing Grade

I am sitting here watching my son have a temper tantrum because the Legos are not cooperating with him. It would be easy to blame the fever and runny nose but it would also be a lie. My son has a problem dealing with frustration. Instead of taking a deep breath and trying again when something doesn't go the way he would like, he throws things, stomps his feet, yells and storms away.

I can't imagine, for the life of me, where he learned that.

So I realize, a tad late in the game, that if I want to help him learn to properly deal with frustration I must provide the living example. This means I am now taking a crash course in how to properly deal with frustration. I can't tell you the first time I ever failed a class. I may not have received straight As but I was damn close to it (when I felt like it). I swear I am trying. I swear I am giving this my all but at the rate I am going, a passing grade is damn near impossible. I feel like I've got an old dog sitting next to me saying "no shit, really?".

So we teach each other. We remind each other to take deep breaths and try again. We remind each other that it is ok if something is not perfect or doesn't work out exactly. You can just try again or you can accept the imperfections and just roll with it.

My son is three and he knows his mom isn't perfect. He knows I make mistakes and I want him to. I want him to know that it is ok to screw up. It is ok not to be perfect because no one is. What is important is trying, deciding what the goal is and going for it and sometimes realizing that the goal isn't all that you thought it would be and changing mid-stream.