I want to mop! I want to mop!

I was having a shit day.

And, the floor needed to be mopped.

That’s when my 5 year old walked in.  “I want to mop! I want to mop”. Now, I didn’t want her help for two reasons:

1. The 30 second mop job I planned to do was going to turn into an hour long circus act (yet again);
2. I was having a shit day.

But, her cuteness and my mood had me handing over the bucket full of water and the mop.

That’s when I did something stupid.  I sat down to relax.

Next thing, I hear a loud bang!  My daughter had single handedly managed to tip the bucket over and flood the kitchen!

I ran up to her and shouted “Look what you have done!  I told you that this would happen”.

She looked sad.  Sad and scared. And disappointed.

My instinct was to take back what I had said to her.

My heart told me that I was allowed to have reacted the way I did.

While these two parts of me had a 1 minute battle, her little voice kept saying “I’m sorry Mama”.  She said it about 900 times.

I made the decision on the spot:  GO WITH YOUR HEART!

I picked her up, put a blanket around her and rocked her like a baby, while silently promising myself never to fall for her charms again.

Then, I forgave myself.  And mopped up that damn floor!