Yesterday afternoon, Kerri was playing outside with her ex. It was pretty chilly, and then it started to rain lightly.
I told Kerri we needed to go in because of the rain. I even pointed out the rain drops in the puddles on the road. Kerri pleaded to stay outside. And then her ex interrupted us and said: "No you don't have to go in. You have to dance in the rain.", and proceeded to shake his bum and wave his arms in the air, giggling.
That immediately reminded me of a saying: "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain." You could have knocked me over with a spoon.
Kerri immediately began negotiating. We compromised that if it started to rain even harder, she would have to come in. And then her ex pointed out that it stopped raining, and smiled.
In that moment, I realized that a seven year old boy had just taught me a very important lesson. I had wasted a wonderful opportunity to shake my bum in the rain with Kerri, instead of yapping away.
We spent the next ten minutes outside just hanging around, waiting for Daddy to come home from work. The kids played, and I contemplated on how much time I spent "negotiating" with my daughter, instead of just letting her enjoy and experience life.
Life with Kerri is learning to dance.