Getting out

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids and we spent a few days at my parent's "cabin." I use the term cabin loosely. Really, it is an old house in a very small town. But it is my favorite way to camp. No internet, phone or television - but there is electricity and hot water. However, the hot water thing is a little.....unpredictable, as my oldest son traumatically found out this trip.

All my favorite people

Actually, it isn't that hard to predict.  A decrepit hot water heater, plus me, my kids, my sisters and their kids, all trying to wash the sand and sunscreen off after a day at the lake in chronological order means that only the babies actually have hot water. Everyone else gets lukewarm at best. And Child 1 wasn't happy about having to shower in the first place. I didn't really care if he stayed dirty either, but his skin reacts badly to sunscreen if it is left on for too long. So I forced him to shower. (and stop reading Harry Potter, because I love to see my children suffer.)

He can shower by himself now, and I told him he didn't even have to wash his hair - just soap his body, rinse and get out. I brought him his clean clothes and a towel and left him to it.

Ten minutes later I am back to check on him and find him standing in the shower as far away from the spray as possible, crying hysterically.

"What's wrong?" I shout.

"It's COLD!" He (literally) cries.

The hot water was completely gone, and the water really was icy. I turn off the water, wrap him in a towel and spend the next ten minutes trying to get him to calm down. I'm feeling a little sorry for him and a little exasperated. "If the water is cold GET OUT. You don't have to stay in a cold shower. Just GET OUT. You are in control of this!"

He hadn't had time to get all the soap off, which was why he felt he had to stay in, but couldn't bring himself to duck under the cold water again. "So wipe it off on a towel. If you don't like where you are - if you hate your situation CHANGE IT!"

I'm was hoping that he would see this as a life lesson, and will learn to take control of his own situation. And I was pretty surprised that he didn't realize that since HE turned the water on, HE could turn the water off.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there are all kinds of situations in my own life that I hate. That I scream and throw a fit about, that are completely under my control. And it's hard. It's hard to see that you are in control, and that you have to take the initiative. And sometimes it seems easier to cry as loudly as possible until someone hears and comes to the rescue. But how much better life is when I can take a deep breath, and simply step out of a bad situation. No crying, no time wasted trying to recover, just two steps to the side and on with my life. I'm not good at it, but I'm still trying.

Real Life