A Running Mom

I pick up my oldest daughter from school most days of the week. She’s tackling friend stuff right now. Some girls used to be nice; new girls make her laugh; the old girls don’t like that she has new friends; a couple of girls try and take her things. Who to call “friend?” It’s tough for her. So I pick her up and we get thirty minutes to ourselves before her siblings come home.  

Photo Credit: www.childcarevouchers

I jumped on the treadmill today after hearing more stories — one said they’d sit on the bus together, then sat elsewhere — another didn’t say hi — that one took her pencils — this one’s mad that she moved to another lunch table. Unbelievable. I started to laugh. Funny, but, don’t I have a lot of similar stories right now? As an adult? Not about pencils, but you know, similar stuff.

Why is that?

I met a woman a bunch of years ago with whom I shared in a bit of a sticky scenario. We had a lot to work out. But we managed it. Not an easy task to sort through a bunch of gossip and hurt feelings, but we did it. And she said, she’d never had a friend like me.

Really? Isn’t that a shame?

I didn’t see the whole thing as all that unique. We got to the bottom of the problem, talked it through, and reconciled. Isn’t that normal? Shouldn’t it be?

Today I’m watching my daughter try to do it. Now, granted, she’s probably making a bit of a fuss over tiny misunderstandings. But I admire her for it all the same. 

Maybe she’ll get so good at it, that more kids will just sort stuff through on the spot instead of sulking and simmering and not speaking. One of her friends didn’t speak to the other for a whole week! Crazy.

Or, is it better to just to laugh?

I really couldn’t stop laughing. Here I was thinking about how unnecessary her worries were, when don’t I still have similar troubles as an adult? 

I jumped off the treadmill, still smirking, realizing that maybe my daughter needs to laugh a little more about some of this stuff instead of getting so wound up about it. No one is perfect. Not me, her friends, my friends or her. So maybe she just needs to wait it out and find the time when they all can laugh together again.

Another moment of clarity spurred by a good run. Even if it was on the dreaded treadmill.

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca