Every parent wants to be a shining example to his or her child. We all want our children to reflect our best versions of ourselves, and sometimes that means hard work. One woman understood the value of being her absolute best for her children, especially when her patience wore thin.
Kathleen Fleming described a heartbreaking scene one day as her son entered the house upset. She could tell that something was wrong, but she had no idea what he was about to do. The situation left her feeling frantic and afraid.
“It took my breath away when my son stormed into the bathroom, frustrated, angry, fed-up for his very own, very significant to him, reasons,” Kathleen shared with Majestic Unicorn. “And when he chose to SLAM the bathroom door, causing the heavy mirror mounted to the front to slip out of the hardware holding it in place and crash onto the floor – a million, BROKEN pieces were left reflecting the afternoon light.”
This mom was at a loss. After putting the dog outside and cat in the basement to protect their feet from the broken glass, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.
“I walked into the backyard and felt the hot tears streaming down my face. It’s amazing how alone you can feel as a single parent in moments like these. I realized how scared and disappointed I felt. Did this really just happen? Yes, this was real,” the anxious mother shared.
As she sorted through her emotions, Kathleen realized something astounding. Through all of the chaos in her mind, she could see that her child needed her. She decided to put her emotions aside and be the role model that her son needed her to be.
The alarmed mother walked back into he house, comforting herself with solid advice: “Deep breath. That small, fragile soul needs you right now. He needs your very best. Your biggest compassion. Your most gentle and firm mama love and reassurance. More deep breaths. Go mama.”
As Kathleen cautiously approached the bathroom, her son already wanted to make up for what he had done. He apologized and told her it would never happen again.
Kathleen kept her calm the whole time. She gave him words of comfort and explained to him what anger was. She taught him how to manage his feelings. Next, the two cleaned together in silence. Though neither person spoke, the two could feel the love and compassion flowing between them. In the end, the bond between them was stronger than ever.
When this mother was confronted with a difficult situation, she chose to prioritize her son’s mental health, rather than give in to anger at his outbreak. She realized that this was her chance to demonstrate the true power of love to him, and she took it.
Kathleen’s story is one that almost every parent can relate to, and her message is a valuable one. How we handle a situation is infinitely more important than the situation itself. The mother shared some powerful tips for her fellow parents to follow:
“Sometimes things break. Sometimes we break them. It’s not the breaking that matters, the how or why. What matters is how we choose to respond to the broken-ness. Does it kill us? Does it throw us into a downward spiral of blame and punishment? OR Does it help us remember how to love deepest? Does it push us towards compassion and over the hurdle of ‘rightness’ and ‘wrongness’ into LOVENESS? . . . Go now. Get that baby of yours. Teach that. Show that. Live that. It’s called LOVENESS. Go. Now.”
We could all learn a lesson from this mother’s incredible depths of compassion.
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