Stubborn

Today, the Monkey stubbornly refused to go down for his nap. The dog stubbornly insisted on going on a walk. I'm sure the cat was being stubborn, too.

Just kidding. It was all projection, and I was the stubborn one. I was hoping to walk the dog after the nap to make more time in the day for myself. (The dog can usually wait, and that way I can save valuable nap time for doing things around the house.) I was trying to insert my agenda into the day, and that isn't usually how parenting works.

Like all of our failings, the most important thing about stubbornness is to realize what's going on as it's happening. That helps us to change things before anyone gets upset. I'm sure I was late on that -- how the monkey did howl! -- but awareness of my stubbornness helped me better see its effects.