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feeling left out

Saturday Feature: Mistakes – Vacation Edition

May 29, 2010 by sue campbell

Every Saturday I bring you a parenting mistake my husband and I have made. Please have a laugh or cry at our expense — we really are good parents, I swear.

Ben and I took the week off. Nora went to daycare for three of five days. I am not sorry for this. We had to build a fence and do some work in the yard. It was take her to school while we knocked it out or have a “little helper” and let the task stretch into her college years. 

The problem was, I didn’t really prep Nora.  Tuesday, when we picked her up, I asked her, “How was school today?”

“Um, good! How was work today?” she asked.  I fought the urge to lie.

“Um, I didn’t go to work.  Daddy and I stayed home to work on the fence.”

It took her a second to process this. Then the wailing began. “I wanted to help!” I should have known — she as now at an age where she is keenly aware of being left out.

I assured her that there was much help still needed. She would be my helper in the garden and could even come to the nursery with me to get plants.

Wednesday she stayed home with us and helped me put some edging along the flower bed in the pouring rain, handing me pieces as I needed them.  We went to the farm store for chicken feed.  She picked out some radish seeds and we bought broccoli and lettuce starts. 

Thursday, she went to school and our evening scene repeated itself. This time I told her I had work to do away from my desk.  She seemed to accept this more readily.

By Friday morning, I had my act together and let her know I’d be at home, but she got to go to school so she could bring her dinosaur for show and tell.  And I explained the long weekend ahead, and all we had to look forward to together. 

This morning, she is running errands alone with daddy, and I’m feeling a bit left out myself.

Filed Under: Mistakes Tagged With: Daycare, feeling left out, fence building, vacation

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What kind of blog is this?

This is a blog for PARENTS. True, the writer, Sue Campbell, writes books for kids. But this blog is for grown-ups. It has some swearing and would be super boring for kids. Except for the swearing.

The PODCAST is for KIDS and PARENTS. In fact, my twelve-year-old daughter is my co-host.

If your kids like Sue's books, send them over to suecampbellbooks.com where there's some kid-friendly content. EVEN BETTER, join the mailing list. You get stuff for grown-ups and printable stuff for kids. And sometimes there will be super ill-advised giveaways or coloring contests for free books.

MORE ABOUT SUE: She makes an ACTUAL LIVING from writing words and marketing books and lives with her husband, two daughters, six chickens and one messy house rabbit in Portland, Oregon. And yes, Portland IS that weird. She really couldn't be any luckier.

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