Fatherhood

The girls wanted to make slime. To make slime: mix water, glue, and borax. Caitlin had a rough idea that you'll need water and glue. While my wife and I went out on a date, the girls made several bowls of "slime" of just water and glue. When we got home from our date, I added borax and showed them how their "slime" changed.

Excited by their success, the next day, the girls wanted to make more slime! I gave them the ingredients, plus food coloring, and left them alone. They made several batches of things - none of them came out particularly slimy, but they had fun and enjoyed the process.

That's when I ruined things. Allison wanted to make purple slime. She knew to mix blue and red food coloring, but it came out more brown than purple because undiluted food coloring was too intense. Purple is Allison's favorite color, and I wanted to help her make slime that was a pretty purple. So I made another batch and started to carefully mix in food coloring. While I stepped away, Allison added a small drop of blue food color that turned the slime a dark blue. Realizing this will be too dark to turn into pretty purple, I cried out "Allison, no!" She got upset and ran into her room to cry.  I turned a beautiful morning into a very different message for Allison: "You do everything wrong."

I realized it is not the purple slime that's important. The important thing is doing things on her own. Their morning was beautiful until I stepped in to "help." By focusing on the final product, I overlooked the learning experience and her sense of independence. A lesson learned, for me.