The Emily's New Clothes

What is it about new clothing? Is Emily the only kid who feels that a brand new shirt or pair of pants is merely a blank canvas for her to express herself? Whatever the reason, it seems as if the most dangerous time for clothing is the first wearing.

Emily got some lovely new shorts from her grandparents last weekend. Yesterday was a nice hot day and the perfect time to try out said new shorts. It also seemed to be the perfect time to discover a forgotten wet erase marker and destroy the shorts.

I threw everything I had at that stain: Spot Shot, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, carpet cleaner, bleach, bleach and more bleach. It wasn't budging. I even tried yelling and screaming. That didn't work either and it just made me feel worse.

Time for a band-aid.

No, it doesn't match perfectly, but it makes them once again wearable. Next time Emily ruins something (that will most likely be later today) I am going to try to tell myself, "It's probably not so bad that it can't be fixed. And even if it is, it's not worth yelling". If I say it enough times, maybe it will stick.

Or perhaps I will just be one of those women who are under the impression that I somehow gained complete mastery over my anger right about the time my children left home. Then I will tell all the young mothers that the little things aren't worth getting angry over and they will miss these days. But part of me will always remember that yelling and motherhood are as inseparable as Emily and destruction.