Yesterday, Chris alerted me to the notification in the school app that noted that Pookster got hit in the face with a toy by another kid. I looked at the photo the teacher posted, but because I didn’t see any scratch or blood, I figured it wasn’t much of anything, so I brushed it off. When I arrived at the school for pickup, the teacher had a bit of a nervous look on her face when she came over to me, explained what happened (including the need for an ice pack on Kaia’s nose, apparently), and then asked me to sign a form (which is required by the Department of Education) to acknowledge that I was informed about the incident and knew what happened. These kids are all in the 18-24 month age range, so I really didn’t think anything of this. At this age, kids don’t really know right from wrong or whether they are hurting another person. So I was a bit surprised this even needed a signed form and was a requirement. But the teacher clarified and said that this was the usual procedure that had to be followed, and for the child who actually did the offense, their parent also had to be notified and sign their own version of this form. That child got picked up earlier, and when her mom was told this, she immediately burst into tears and said the kid was going through some issues at home and was expressing it outwardly in her behavior. I felt a little bad that she cried. What could she have really done differently, anyway, and it’s not like her kid was getting suspended or some serious consequence?

People who choose to have kids today are having fewer children than their parents and grandparents. And because of that, it’s almost like we have to pour in every single resource and ounce of energy we have into them to ensure they have these picture-perfect lives. But candidly, I don’t think we should expect perfection from our kids… or anyone. It’s an impossible standard to live up to. Kids are going to have mishaps and mistakes, and we just have to deal with them as we come instead of beating ourselves up over every tiny infraction.