Attitudes are Like Colds



Whether positive or negative, they're easy to catch...
...and even easier to give...

Recently our family went to a school event. Long story short, it seemed unanimous that the seating arrangement was not the best. The show was mostly heard and not seen and was a very disappointing situation.

I might have complained to someone if I thought it would help, but with a group of about two hundred in the audience, I didn't bother. It was one of those situations where we all just had to make the best of it.

And we did.

I allowed my youngest to stand on a chair and let my other child stand up the entire time so they could see. (And I never do that.) My husband and I did our best to stay positive and we kept our disappointment to ourselves; a smile on our faces.

Afterwords, we took the kids out for ice cream and talked about our favorite parts. The consensus was that we had a good time. No one griped or complained about not being able to see most of the show...though we all knew what we had to contend with. We just didn't make it the center of our conversation. We laughed a lot and even got a glimpse of the cast as a truck load of them arrived at the ice cream shop while we were there.

A parent's attitude has everything to do with a child's.

I am a very verbal person, I am a results oriented person and I am Mama-Bear to the highest.
I will go to the ends of the earth to get my children what they need. No matter what. I have in the past, worked hard to get our family's food delivered hot and on time at a restaurant, I have often times fought for the sale price when advertised, and I have plenty of times voiced my disappointment when I felt that things were upsetting or unfair for my family.

Though this situation warranted none of that at that. In this case, it required no action. 
More than anything they needed a positive role model and I just needed to stay quiet, smile, say thank you and have a good time.

My teen was the one who paid for, and invited us to, this event. She knew the situation was less than stellar and I (above all) did not want her to feel fault for the challenges we were faced with. (Her own frustration was obvious...she didn't need the burden of mine.)

The next, day I did the right thing.
I wrote a detailed, polite letter, to the people in charge, letting them know our experience, so that families in the future would enjoy the show more than we did.

My kids never griped even though they knew the situation was pretty lousy, and I think this will help them (and mom and dad) the next time they are in another not-so-ideal situation...

We made the best of it....and it was contagious!

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