My epiphany

This morning, I had an epiphany. It all started as I was in a rush to leave the house to make it to a play date, I was trying to just take a minute to go to the bathroom, and there's Melody trying to pull down the curtains, throw magazines around the bathroom, and unroll an entire roll of toilet paper. Out of frustration of her not stopping when I told her to, and that grin on her face telling me that she knew perfectly well she shouldn't be doing it, I took the ball in her hands and threw it out the door for her to follow it. Yes, indeed, I played fetch with my daughter. I felt guilty about doing it after, and I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong (as this not listening thing is a new behavior). Everywhere I go, I hear frustrated and exhausted parents asking friends, family, professionals, anyone they can find, what they're doing wrong. I realized it's not a matter of right and wrong, but more of a working and not working. I think we should think of all our child rearing questions in that phrasing. For most things, there isn't a clear answer. It does all depend on the kid and how they respond to things. Although I must admit, playing fetch with Melly probably was both wrong and not working, it did open my eyes a bit.