Know When to Hold Your Tongue

I thought I was doing a great service by inviting my sister over along with my 4 year old niece and my sister in law for dinner and decorating for Christmas.  Little did I know what was in store for me.  You see my niece started complaining that her tummy was hurting.  I didn't think much of it and neither did my sister.

So here I am in the kitchen making some homemade potato soup with shrimp, thank you Paula Deen, when my niece suddenly starts to throw up.  My sister hurried her into the bathroom but not before she got some vomit on the carpet.  Yes, I know this isn't the greatest subject to talk about, however, I have to confess that I wasn't feeling very gracious.  I could remember another time in my life when my eldest threw up in bed, in the middle of the night.  He was about the same age, 4 years old.  I wish I could tell you I had the patience of Job and that I was a loving and comforting Mom to him, but I wasn't.  To this day it is one thing that I regret but my son and I have come a long way and he has forgiven me, so lets move on. 

Although my initial response wasn't favorable when my niece was emptying her stomach, I thought back to that moment when my son was 4 and my heart just melted a little.  I then started to feel bad for her.  Okay, so what if it's on the carpet, it can be cleaned right?  The important thing is that I held my tongue so that my niece didn't feel worse about being sick. 

To many times we say things before we think without realizing what the consequences may be.  I'm glad that I was able to hold back from saying anything.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening decorating the tree while my niece ran to the bathroom twice more.  I could have hurt her little heart by saying something.  Instead the feeling of frustration passed and was replaced by concern.

Think about what your saying to your loved ones before you speak.  In the end you'll save yourself and the other person some grief over uttered words that cannot be taken back.  If you have a hard time holding back, bite your tongue until it bleeds, that always works for me.  Not to mention you'll be performing an act of kindness to the other person.