It's December 31, 2011 and that means my first-born is 6 years and 1 day old. We celebrated her big day on the 29th at every parents 2nd favorite place...Pump It Up! (Chuck E Cheese wins first prize on that favorites list.) The kids bounced their brains out and had a great time and all I had to do was pay an arm and a leg to make it all happen. The party was so easy I think I may sell my other arm and leg next year just to not have to deal with the hassle of having an at-home party. So many great friends came to play with Josie and we're thankful for each and every friendship!
So yesterday was her actual birthday and Chris and I decided to save her "big" gift from us until the actual day. We thought about giving it to her in the morning but since we had early morning plans to ride horses at a sweet friend's house, we choose to wait till later to give her the gift. Well, the horseback riding was a blast and lasted longer than expected (but we didn't care cause we had so much fun), and that made for a late lunch, and then an immediate nap for little sister (and the rest of the fam) when we got home. So unfortuately the presentation of the gift was held off even longer.
I had hidden the gift in the usual gift hideaway (my closet, of course) and both her father and I had given Josie strict instructions NOT to enter my closet. As soon as her sister woke from her nap, I went straight to the closet to retrieve her present. But much to my dismay, when I approached the closet, I noticed the bathroom and the closet light were on. That little stinker had been in my closet!! As soon as I asked her I knew by the look on her face that she had been in there. I asked her if she had seen the gift and to my surprise she admitted that she had (I did have it covered. She actually had to lift the sheet to see it.) I was SO MAD! That little turd disobeyed AND spoiled my fun of surprising her with a new bike! I was mad. Her dad was mad. And she went to her room crying.
Fun way to celebrate your birthday, huh? At that point, Chris and I didn't know if we were still going to give her the bike or take it back to the store. Besides, she didn't even seem very excited about seeing her new bike. Since I was still so mad, I headed outside and challenged my dad (he's in town for a few days) to a game of ping-pong. Nothing like whooping up on your dad and reminding yourself that you're STILL undefeated on your own ping-pong table to make you feel a little better. :-)
After that, Chris and I had a conversation about what to do next with the bike. We both REALLY wanted to teach her a lesson and take that bike straight back to Toys R Us. But then, we both were reminded (almost at the exact same time) of grace. The grace that we are offered every single day by our amazing God when we mess up and make bad choices. And so, we decided to offer a little grace too (with a stipulation that if she EVER peeks at another present it will most certainly be returned!) And so we waited until this morning...one day after her birthday (there had to be some sort of consequence)...and then she got the bike...and she loves it! She walked it around the house for about a half hour till it was time to take it for a spin outside. She was a little nervous since it's been a few months since she's been in the saddle, but with one push she was riding down the driveway and I was taking pictures like crazy.
Just a little bit of grace was all it took. :-)
