Quality parenting

Some days you feel like you do a good job as a parent.  Other days not so much.  Then, there was last Thursday.

It started off fine.  It was a warm and sunny morning, so no jacket/fleece was needed.  FABJ rode her new bike as far as grandma and granddad's house (5 minute bike ride for me - 15 to 20 for her) before riding the last part on the kid's bike seat on my bike.

I completely ignored the weather (and basically everything else) while working away in my office after lunch.  Then, as I prepared to leave my office to get FABJ, I noticed that it was drizzling / spitting / however you wish to describe ever-so-slight rain.

I was not thrilled, as FABJ has yet to accept the inevitable fact of Irish weather: sooner or later - usually sooner - it will rain.  Thus, you will get wet.

At least she has the right gear: rain jacket, rain pants, and wellies.

But, when I arrive at camp, I discover that she does not have ANY of her rain gear in her backpack.  We left it all at home!  She doesn't even have a long-sleeve shirt.  I don't have my rain jacket / pants / extra shirt either.

This is not good, even if the rain is very slight.  I will not win any parent-of-the-year awards for cycling next to a busy road (in the bike lane) during rush hour with a kid getting wet.

Then, I remember that I bought a wetsuit for FABJ earlier in the day for use at Irish beaches in the summer (when the later is still freezing).

Well, you can guess what I did next.  Yep, we put her wetsuit on over her t-shirt and leggings at camp, and she rode home in it!  I can only imagine the looks of the commuters who saw us.  Needless to say, we did not stop at grandma and granddad's to pick up the bike that afternoon. 

That is what I call "quality parenting," (note the sarcasm font).

How did FABJ respond? She fell deeply asleep ("sleep sleep", she called it) and had a big grin when we got home. Sometimes, when you least expect it, she can be a real trooper.