Perfect parenting for nearly two hours

There are definitely days when your parenting leaves something to be desired.

You say the wrong thing.

Make the wrong decision.

Let your child down.

Parenting is a long and arduous path. There are bound to be slips, stumbles, and falls. My list of parenting failures is both long and storied. On my first night of solo parenting, while six week old Clara was asleep in her crib, I left the house to get a Diet Coke at 7-11, forgetting that my infant daughter existed.

On Saturday, Charlie received his second vaccination shot. As he panicked about the prospect of the needle, and as Elysha and the nurse calmly convinced him that all would be well, I began bribing the boy with toys from a local store, even after we had told him that we would absolutely not be buying any toys this close to Christmas.

Had he held out any longer, I might’ve offered him the keys to my car.

So yes, I’m not the perfect parent. Not even close.

That’s why it’s so important to acknowledge those days when you somehow – via carefully planning, blind luck, or an iron will – hit one out of the park. Remember your parenting successes so that the failures don’t sting quite as much.

So…

On Friday night, Clara asked if the family could just sit around the fire for the evening and read. So that’s what we did. For a solid 75 minutes, we all sat in front of a roaring fire, surrounded by Christmas decorations, and quietly read.

Clara read fantasy. Charlie read a nonfiction tome about minerals. I read a friend’s manuscript. Elysha read a novel.

After that was done, I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to Elysha and the kids for another half hour  before sending the children to bed.

Our family spent a Friday night reading by the fire.

For one glorious evening, Elysha and I crushed it.

I will keep that evening in the forefront of my mind the next time I fail miserably as a parent, which may have already happened, but I just haven’t noticed yet.