Oftentimes one of the kids will come up to me, frustrated and whiny about something they can’t pull apart or remove from whatever it is they’re trying to remove it from. I watch them try with all their might; the kind of frustration and might that more-times-than-not results in the damn thing being broken rather than set free. I was reminded of this this morning when I was emptying the dishwasher and I couldn’t get a lid to one of Sonny’s sippy cups out. The lip of it was stuck on some prong and I quickly realized that no matter how hard I pulled, it wasn’t going to separate. Pulling harder was not the answer and would have actually led to the lid and / or the rack breaking. It’s like having your fingers stuck in a chinese finger and the desperation to be free makes you pull all the much harder and as you’re pulling harder you’re simultaneously spending whatever was left of your patience and patience is soon traded for panic. I always tell the kids, if what you’re doing isn’t working, maybe there’s another way; a better way, an easier way.

As I turned the lid of the sippy cup to dislodge it from the prong it was caught on, I realized that oftentimes tugging at something gets you nowhere. That sometimes the answer is an about face, a turn in the other direction.

Filed under: ordinary life happenings that remind me I’m on the right track.

Image: a self portrait wearing a tank that reads “free as a bird” backwards and is slightly out of focus.