{Parenting} Honoring Their Wishes

This parenting gig is tough. And last week, I totally screwed up. I had a major parenting fail. Shelby saw a photo of herself on my Instagram feed and went ballistic. The photo she saw was one of her shaving her legs. She was so, so mad at me for posting the photo

Let me share a little back story: when I was texting Shelby to shave her legs, I took a photo. She protested. And I begged her to let me take it. She said, "Okay, but you can't show anyone." I promised and then promptly forgot about it. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I posted a Project Life layout to Instagram that included that photo. I honestly forgot I'd promised her I wouldn't post the photo. And I honestly didn't think it was such a big deal. But to her, it was a huge betrayal. I had both broken my promise and posted an embarrassing photo of her for everyone to see. 

This parenting gig is tough.

I felt horrible. I didn't mean to hurt her. I have forgotten what it's like to be a twelve-year-old girl and didn't think about her feelings. But even more than that, I made her a promise (not to share the photo) and I broke that promise. Major parenting fail. Talk about feeling like the world's biggest asshole. 

This parenting gig is tough. 

I deleted the post, and then Shelby and I had a major heart to heart, which started with an apology. Then, she laid out the ground rules for posting photos of her. She's 12 now and has every right to privacy and a say in the pictures that are posted of her. Simply put, if she says no posting, I will respect that. Even if I think it's no big deal, I have to remember that when she vetos something, then I can't post it.

This parenting gig is tough and I'm really just trying to feel my way through it all. I need to make this my mantra: if it were me, would I be happy about (insert situation here)? And would I still be okay with it if I was 12 again? I'm sure I'll screw up again. I'm pretty good at that. But I'm going to try not to and try to make choices that will make both my children continue to put their faith and trust in me. That's all we can do, right?