Life is full of surprises. Surprise birthday parties, tire blow-outs on the freeway, and your child vomiting while your looking into her sweet little eyes.
Now I’m getting ahead of myself...
A few months ago I was talking to my friend Grace about her newest job as a nanny for her sister. I was giving her a heads up, trying to help a bit.
There are all the things people tell you about having and caring for children. It’s incredible. You experience a unique and deep love and connection. It’s a great source of joy in life. But, there are also some things - we’ll call them ‘down sides’ to watch out for.
Before I could cover some things off my ‘the things people don’t tell you about having children’ list, she interrupted me with a story. A story about a sweet little boy lying on the couch having a regular conversation. A very calm and sweet conversation that included whispering that you had to really get close to hear. And then it happened. Illness. Retching. A mess to clean up.
Which brings me to…..
Life lesson learned through parenting #27 - The only thing worse than getting vomit on yourself, is getting someone else’s vomit on yourself.
Our conversation about child rearing took a different route with that epiphany.
Your own life has ups and downs. There are things that you say and wish you could take back. There are decisions you make that you later regret. Sometimes, you even make the decision knowing that you will regret it later, and then continue to take action on that poor decision.
There are consequences that you deal with...but that’s OK. We can take our mistakes and learn from them.
However, dealing with the consequences of someone else’s poor decisions is a much tougher pill to swallow.
If you spend a lot of time around people who like to gossip and complain, you’ll find yourself pitching in.
If you want to eat healthy, don’t go to lunch with the guy who only eats at the pizza buffet.
You probably shouldn’t hang out with your cousin who hammers down an 18 pack of beer every night if you’re trying to stop drinking.
To bring this back to the original analogy - If you’re around people who tend to vomit often, stay a few feet back...or maybe wear a poncho.
Let me know in the comments: What are you currently trying to avoid? What do you need to keep better distance from?
- Danny Lehr