You don’t get to make the rules…

“You don’t get to make the rules, I make the rules.”

I hollered at my 5yo yesterday at she tired to bargain for her sister to get her iPod back.

And yet as the words came out of my mouth in the heat of the annoyance and in response to her defiance, it wasn’t what I wanted to say.

Even at 5 yo she does get to make the rules, not all of them, but she can certainly begin to plant some very powerful seeds.

As I rehashed this conversation with my husband last night, he laughed at her strong will and gave me the “she’s your kid” look. And she is my kid and even in the heat of the moment, inside I loved that she was standing up for her sister and willing to take whatever I dished out.

It was beautiful in hindsight, even though in the moment it irritated the crap out me.

It is beautiful that as a mom of 3 others, my baby girl still manages to teach me more and more about myself and about what kind of mom I want to be.

Are you being the kind of mom you want to be?

Or the kind you think you have to be?