Last night, Soleil’s plans to open her restaurant were thwarted by dad.(yes, she wants to open a restaurant called the Horse House which serves mac-n-cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chicken nuggets. Personally? I think there already is a market for Trigger burgers.)

Dad informed her that I had already requested taco like materials since he wouldn’t let me have my dinner of choice (pancakes or waffles). She went into meltdown mode. The kid tries to fit 27 hours worth of life into the 19 hours that she is awake everyday. It really does overwhelm her when she can’t do everything she planned.

She got so angry that she went over to the patio doors and kicked the screen. Crap, she popped the screen out. We let her run off in the yard to calm down. When she came in, I talked to her about this. She was upset when I explained that she would need to pay for the repair. Upset is a mild word. Perhaps devastated would be better. Her entire life was RUINED because I would make her pay for the repair (we figure $5 at most). She told me I was ruining it all. (She is SO ready for middle school, don’t you think?)

When she was calmer, I explained that this is the part of the mom job I hate. "Which part?" she asked. "The part where I have to hold you accountable for your actions. I would much prefer to let you kick the screen, get out your anger and let it go. But what would happen if I did that?" I replied. "I would never learn to take care of things", was the sad answer. "yeah, you would become an adult who can’t control herself and damages things and doesn’t know what the acceptable thing is to do". "I know, mom, but I don’t like it", wiping her tears away.

"I don’t like it either. I wish I could pick up after you every time, but that’s not fair to you. You would be a terrible adult if I did that."

"I know mom. Being a mom is hard."

You are so right, girl. So right.