Accountability

The other day, I posted on our Facebook page about how my daughter accepted responsibility for the first time in her 15 years on this earth. I wanted to explain more about this, and why this is such an important thing. My daughter had planned to fly to Florida with her best friend and her friend’s parents. They were going to visit her friend’s grandma. My daughter has had issues with her ears while flying, dealing with cabin pressure changes, which often result in her having painfully plugged ears. She has had great success using “Ear Plane” ear plugs, that regulate and balance the air pressure in your head and environment. My wife and I told her she needs to make sure that she plans ahead on everything she is going to need to take with her on this trip. We made two different trips to the store over the past week to ensure she had everything she needed. The night before she was supposed to leave, she stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. Of course, when I went to wake her up at 9 AM, she didn’t want to get out of bed. She fell back asleep and woke up at 9:30, knowing she had to get ready to leave by 10 AM. So she complained about that. Then as we are walking out the door, she tells me she needs to get those earplugs. She was upset that we didn’t already have some of them, even though it was her responsibility to ensure that she had them!

She raised her voice and told me if we don’t stop at the store and buy some on the way to her friends house, she was going to have all sorts of problems with her ears, and she will call me crying because of the pain and discomfort. So, trying to be a good dad, I ran into the store as fast as I could, and searched up and down those aisles, trying to find the darn earplugs. I finally got some help and was told they do not have them. I ran back out to the car and broke the news to her. She said that we just had to get going. I was so frustrated, I raised my voice and told her if she would’ve planned ahead, she would’ve already had the earplugs and this wouldn’t be an issue. I dropped her off at her friend’s house, they drove to the airport. Just before her plane was ready to leave, she texted me and said it was going to be OK, and she should have thought ahead and got the earplugs in advance. I nearly cried. This was a monumental moment, where she actually admitted that she should have done something she did not do. I call that a parental win! Does this mean my baby girl is growing up and starting to be more responsible? Maybe. But we have a very long way to go!