A Good Parenting Moment

Last week, a friend, whose daughter is a good friend of Grace, sent me an email that her daughter was upset with Grace and then proceeded to give me a list of reasons why. Initially, I was kind of hurt, this was a friend of mine that I've known for years. I really wished she would have called me rather than emailing me. But it ended up being a good thing, because I was able to think rationally about the situation rather than responding like a mama bear emotionally.

So, I didn't respond to all that was mentioned in the email. Instead, I emailed her suggesting we meet for lunch with both of the girls and and discuss the sitution. Teach them that they can disagree and discuss and still be friends. She agreed and yesterday we met at the park with lunch.

And it was good. We both really encouraged the girls to discuss the situation. To take responsibility for their roles in the situation. The girls were very hesistant at first, both afraid of losing a good friend (and this really wasn't a very serious matter.) But we got them talking and expressing how they felt, without being accusatory AND without allowing them to make excuses for their behavior.

Every now and then I do something right in this whole parenting thing.