Day 16 - Just Walk Away

"Sadie pushes me at daycare sometimes."

"Well, you have to walk away."

"I do but she doesn't listen."

"Sometimes you have to tell her to stop then walk away."

"I do but she just pushes me."

"Well....you have to do what you have to do.  Say stop and walk away and if she follows you then walk to Ms. Mandi."

"Okay.  That's a good idea."

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I wish I could take credit for the sage advice handed out in the above conversation, but it wasn't me.  It wasn't even Dear Husband.  It was Little Man talking to his Little Miss on how to handle a pushy girl at daycare.  Wise beyond his years!

This advice holds true in lots of scenarios.  Sometimes you just have to walk away.

Tonight, we are going over our budget.  We have our regular budget that includes groceries, gas, loans, daycare, etc then we have our remodeling budget for the house.  It's been adjusted a dozen times because of varying factors, the most recent being a bid on cabinets and the free fridge!

So we are budgeting.  This involves the iPad, a yellow legal notepad, the computer, and wine....and whiskey.  And cheesecake.  And listening.

Usually we end up disagreeing and I shut down.  That's my defense mechanism (thank you Mom).  DH is pretty good about getting me to come out of it, but more recently I've become more aware of when I do it and realize it's not fair and I try to pull myself out of it.  Tonight the disagreement started when we were talking about kitchen cabinets.  I want a lot of pretty customized features; DH is realistic about the cost of those.  I want something super functional (ie customized features); DH wants functionality too but is aware, again, of the costs.  I'm stubborn.  I want what I want.  DH is very patient with me.

So I "walked" away.  I didn't physically walk away but I mentally did.  It was dumb to get up-in-arms about cabinets.  Yes, I want functionality and a space that works for me but I also want to stick to our budget.  It's not worth fighting about at this point.  So I apologized, and we moved on.

From when we are toddlers to married adults, walking away can be a valuable tool.  Some fights aren't worth fighting.  Some mountains aren't worth dying on.  This is consistent advice my mother has given me - in more than one scenario.  And it's true.  Energy is wasted when you fight battles you won't win. Or that you don't care about.  Fight the battles you are passionate about.

I'm off to pour my second glass of wine and fight the battle for a pull out cupboard.

Cheers,
Megs