A peek into the future

Curt and I were able to see into the future this morning . . . . and it wasn't pretty.

We had one of the those mornings.

Audrey and I were at odds the moment I kissed her cheek to wake her up. "I don't feel good" were the first words out of her mouth.

I'm really growing patient with that phrase. Here are a few other favorites: "My stomach hurts." "I'm too sick." "I'm SO TIRED." This morning, she even tried to tell me that Miss Miller "doesn't like it when your voice is scratchy."

I did my best to cajole her and stay positive. I also took a moment to listen empathetically to anything that might be going on in her world. Things that would cause her to avoid going to school. "Are any of the kids bugging you?" "Are you nervous about something?" Whatever I could think of. Everything checked out okay.

So, I spent the morning catering to her and doing my best to keep my sluggish little girl on task (not easy to do on a GOOD day!) I even packed her a lunch full of her special requests. All of this extra care was impeding my own agenda of getting ready for work, mind you. JUST so we could get out of the door peacefully and on our way.

For some reason, my extra attention only fueled Audrey's desire to be whiny. At breakfast, she informed me that I "had disappointed her" because I failed to sign some Jump Rope for Heart permission slip that was due last week. I had NO IDEA that she was interested in doing this -- this is the first I was hearing of this. But she was in tears because I had let her down.

Then there was some other sad thing that I neglected to do (make hot chocolate) and that's when I lost it. No more Mrs. Nice guy. I let her know how hard I was working to make her day more enjoyable and she seemed to be completely dumping on me. She cried out, "BUT I DON'T FEEL GOOD!" and ran to her room in tears.

Enter Curt. He only heard this last exchange and appeared to see what all the commotion was about.

His first words? "You know who this reminds me of, don't you?" all the while looking at me and smiling.

Yes, Audrey and I are very much alike. And I could hear my own voice in some of those words as she ran away crying. Thankfully, she's also easy to win back over . . . for now. I'm certain that this will get harder and harder the older she gets and the more alike we get.

Curt better get a suit of armor.

In any case, we made up and talked it out. Audrey even ran back to me for an extra hug when I dropped her off at school. I think she felt a little bit bad about this morning as well.

And I guess I need to get up even earlier in the mornings so I have more time to get myself ready and deal with whatever crisis that might arise. It seems crazy to me, but I think it's necessary. I can't expect smooth sailing every morning. Cuz that'll never happen . . .

(this photo was NOT taken this morning)