the joys of a changed attitude...

Wow! I am so excited right now! I have recently been reading a book by James MacDonald called Lord, change my attitude. Reading it I realized that I not only teach but also enable my daughters attitudes. For about a week now, I have been aware of the attitude of my 3 year old Lillian. She will be playing with something or eating at the table and something happens, she drops her fork, or a toy falls, she starts screaming "mommy! I dropped my_________! Waaaa"... So pick it up, I tell her. "no, I want you to do it"or "I cant"... I hate to admit it, but until recently, I would pick it up for her, or direct her attention elsewhere. However for the last week or two, I have been paying extra attention to her attitude when things happen against her desires, especially accidents like dropping things. Usually I will have to say its not a big deal, come on, lets get it together, or how about I HELP you get it? But just a few minutes ago, she dropped a playdough toy she was using and at first she goes "oh noooo, I dropped it!" then without me saying a word, she smiled big and said, "I'll get it!" and she got it... this may seem small to some, but for me, I can see her future. I can see the choices as an adult to take undesireable circumstances and say, oh well, I'll smile and do what I can to fix it. I am so excited that she is learning at an early age that she can choose her attitude toward circumstances even if she can't choose her circumstances. And our love robot "game" is teaching her that no matter what other people do or say, we can choose the attitude we will have toward them. Being a mother may be stressful and hard, but the things that are most worth doing tend to be hard dont they? The rewards are phenomenal!