She was working on a project for school. She was sitting on the fairly-new, suede couch. She was using scissors.
{You can guess where this is going already…}
Unbeknownst to her, in her concentration to get the project cut out just right, she also cut the suede on the couch.
Not once, not twice, but five times.
She didn’t even realize it until we were cleaning up the papers from the project. I saw the cuts firsts, then she saw them.
I wanted to get upset. After all, the couch wasn’t anywhere near free and it was something we’d purchased intending to keep it for many years.
But before I could become upset, a little voice whispered to me, “It’s just a couch.”
It’s not worth anger or frustration — especially since it was just an accident and she was immediately very sorry and upset about what she had done.
The accidental cuts she made on the couch can be mended with a needle and thread. Cutting into my daughter’s heart with my words can’t be undone.
It’s just a couch. It will fade, tear, and get stained with years and use, anyway. It won’t matter much in 25 years from now.
But my relationship with my daughter and how I respond to her — even in the little things like this? That will matter tremendously in 25 years from now.
photo courtesy of Big Stock Photo
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