Bending

Every Wednesday, my campus has early dismissal for the students so that the faculty can come together for instructional planning purposes. Pops usually picks up Isabela and they go out to an early dinner, ice cream, etc., until I get home. On those days, I usually choose to work until 4:30ish or meet up with friends for a couple of glasses of wine. Today, I decided to change-up the plan. I decided to let Isabela have an afternoon worth's of "flexibility". Seriously, with my juggle act of work, grad school and running of the house, this little girl knows all about flexibility. But, I wanted to actually show her and talk with her about how important it is to be willing to go off course when necessary. So...instead of Pops picking her up, she spent 1 hour with one of our secretaries...








Another 30 minutes with one of our teacher aids ( not pictured)...

And finally one hour with the receptionist at my wellness clinic (for my weekly deep tissue massage, alignment or acupuncture).









The very cool part of this all is how willing they all are to help me. They tell me they love talking with her and love to listen to her elaborate, funny stories. Thank goodness for these kind hearts!

By 5:20 pm, it was time for me to be flexible. Although we never, ever use any food as a bribe, incentive or punishment, we let her earn the right to choose a restaurant of her choice. As much as I wanted to be home by 5:30 pm, we headed to the Berry Hill right next door, which was a new place for her. To prove my increased willingness to be flexible, we dined inside instead of doing take-out. I was wishing for home at first, but with a relieved, non-tense back, I was so happy to share fish and shrimp tacos with my Beli. :)









Truth be told, she was spectacular today with being "flexible". But, it didn't all happen in one day. Isabela has been groomed since she came home from the hospital. In an effort to build her endurance with dealing with any hardship in her life, as a child or adult, I have consciously prevented her from having such a structured schedule; let's say about 10-15 % of the time. Naps didn't always happen the very same minute, dinner wasn't always served during the same hour, and I didn't always try to avoid preventing disappointments in her life. Because doing otherwise would have not produced the child I have now- for the real world. Have I mentioned that my little Isabela just had her first public tantrum two weeks ago? She has only whined a handful of times in her whole life? Yup, that my friends, is called "flexibility"!


-- Posted from my iPhone