A teachable moment...for her or me?

Today my sweet Wonder Woman was upset that none of her friends were available to play.

To keep the facts straight, let me tell you that yesterday she lost privileges to play with friends because she and her youngest brother have resorted to fighting with each other - okay, screaming at each other.

And I'm tired of the screaming or yelling or fighting in our home.

As a result, both Wonder Woman and Superman were unable to play with friends yesterday, and they were unable to have any electronics. No kindle, no video games, nada. And where we live, it rained. And it was cold. Quite honestly, it felt like one of the longest days ever. For them and for me.

We did a fun craft. That was a good thing.

Back to the lesson.

Wonder Woman and I were in the car. She was so upset that no one was available to play especially since she missed playing with friends the day before. And that girl was just about set on ruining the rest of her day by being sad and upset.

Enter the teachable moment.

I asked her if it was worth it to allow one thing to ruin her day. She said, "Yes, I can't help it. It's ruined. No one can play."

I then asked her what her perfect day would look like. She said she would get to play all day with her friends and that she would only have sisters and they would play all day.

Then I told her what my perfect day would look like.

• Drink coffee with husband early.
• Workout.
• Shop with my mom. 
• Lunch with my kids.
• Play at the park with kids.
• Dinner date with husband. 
• Dancing after dinner date with husband.

I asked her to tell me how often I get to enjoy all of those things or any of those things in a given day.

My point was to show her that very rarely does my day go as planned; however, I choose to not let any of that ruin my day. Most days I can play at the park or in the backyard with my kids. Most days I get to drink coffee. Most days I work out. Twice a month I get an awesome date night. Almost every single day I eat lunch with my kids. Is it perfect? No, it isn't perfect. But it sure is good...and I'm happy with good. Most of the time, it's great. And I'm happy with great. Perfection is elusive. Something that I will never have. But I want full. I want joy. I want abundance. And in order to have that joy and abundance, I have to look at all the many, wonderful things I do have.

And I want her to get that...to see and understand that many times our day will not go as planned. Because our plan is not His plan. And His plan in infinitely better than any plan we could ever imagine.  And yet, however it turns out, it can be wonderful. It's all in how you look at it. It's about choosing to be grateful for the moment you're in, instead of wishing you were somewhere else doing something else.