Opportunities

I have been bothered all weekend by an opportunity that I let completely pass me by.  I had the chance to teach two of my daughters something, and I let it go.  The sad part was that I didn't even recognize it at the time.  Was it a life changing event for my kids?  No.  Would it have been fun and shown my kids know that I care about them?  Absolutely!  But I failed to see it and I am mad at myself for that.  McKenna wanted to show her friend how to take apart a crab for the crab meat.  She doesn't eat it, but she likes taking them apart.  Well they were making an absolute mess!  Every crab I picked up had been half torn apart and I was getting annoyed.  I told them to stop messing around and go play.  I was on edge because I had two grumpy babies, I was trying to keep an eye on all of my kids and still enjoy the evening, it was starting to rain and I was worried more about what other people thought than on doing what I thought was right for my kiddos.  I am not usually like that, but just so happened to be that day.  A bit later in the evening, Kaitlyn came up to the table and said she wanted to help with the crabs.  She proceeded to grab a knife and started stabbing the shell of the crab.  I told her to stop because she was ruining the crab.  She did it again about a minute later so I sent her to time out.  I am a horrible mother!  I completely missed the opportunity to put her up on my lap and show her how to do it right.  The thought didn't even pass through my mind.  I also made a mistake by sending McKenna away when she wasn't even doing anything wrong.  Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean she couldn't do it.  She was having a great time "helping" us and really enjoyed showing her friend how to do something new.  That is a big deal with McKenna and her fragile ego and me being the idiot I was that night, I am sure I bruised that ego a bit when I told her she was making a mess.  The learning experience that passed me by is something that I ultimately learned a great lesson from.  I can't be so busy, so uptight, so pre-occupied with the moment, so worried about what other people think, that i just neglect those small moments that really are what matter.  How much fun would Kaitlyn have had if I had just taken 5 minutes and shown her how to do it right?  It really has made me take a step back today and re-evaluate how I go through each day and my responses to my children's questions and pleas and actions.