Lessons from a 6-year-old.

I yelled at Ray today because I caught him peeing with the lid still on (he ALWAYS does that!)

Too late, he made a mess. I told him to clean up and then he started whimpering and sniffling. The poor kid was crying!

He usually opens his mouth wide "WAAAAAAAAAAAH! Moooooooommy..." No kidding. He's the baby in the family, so he cries for things he wants. Fact of life. He gets it.

Anyway, I just told him the day before when he finally stopped crying after we gave him a bath (took him a good 20mins - and only because I told him he could ride in the car with me if he stopped -the kid has stamina!)

Uh - I lost my train of thought.

Oh. I explained to Ray that if he wanted something, he could just ask, no need to scream. If something made him upset, he should tell us what it was and why so we could fix it instead of getting mad at him. (I learned that soap gets into his eyes whenever the maid would give him a bath, making it a horribly unpleasant experience for him)

I also explained that it's ok to cry. I told him that I cry too, but no one can here me when I do because I don't do it for attention. He now understands that crying for attention is not a good thing and all of us will call him spoiled if he continues (and he HATES that)

So, back to the story. When I didn't here a "WAAAAAAAA..." after I snapped at him for not lifting the toilet seat, but got a whimper and alot of sobs instead, I just felt HORRIBLE.

I apologized to him as soon as he was done. Something we don't usually do in our family - big flaw. I thanked him for not wailing and told him I was proud of him.

As I was putting my shoes on getting read to leave the house for the Sushi a minute later, Ray ran out to give me a hug and a kiss (the darling, he does that at the most random times)

He said he was sorry for not putting the lid up and that he didn't do it on purpose. He simply forgot. He promised to try harder to remember it next time.

Oh. My heart just melted. I of all people should know how horrible that feels like - to be yelled at for a complete accident.

Now if I can just remember that for life, I will be a much nicer person to my brothers and my future children.

I just hope Ray doesn't starting whimpering all the time because he knows he can get pity from his big sister that way!

I'm such a sucker...