Maggie was upset and telling me about her awful situation as I was driving the other day. I was distracted and had a headache and Patrick was making poop jokes. I was trying to patiently explain to her that she needed to be more patient. I was trying to explain the concept of grace to her.
She was getting more and more upset. I was losing my temper. Why couldn't she just listen to me and understand the point I was trying to make? I was giving good advice. Seriously, I was giving some wise, sage, motherly wisdom.
It just wasn't getting through to her.
That night, I was thinking through this conversation again. It hit me. She didn't need advice. She doesn't need me to explain to her the "right way" to do things all of the time. Sometimes, she just needs me to listen to her.
#Jinglebam
I think I'm so caught up in giving her words of wisdom and teaching her how to do things that I forget that she just needs to be listened to sometimes. I know that I feel this way sometimes. I just want someone to listen and be like, "wow, that sucks".
I apologized to her.I told her that I was sorry that I was trying to fix it all and give her the best advice ever. I would try to remember that sometimes she just needed to be listened to.
