Respecting Boundaries | How Do You Do It?
Last night, I scrubbed the girls’ bathroom from top to bottom after tucking the children into bed. I then took a little break on the couch, eating a piece of chocolate while watching part of an episode of Turn on Netflix. Next to me lay my daughter’s sketchbook, closed. She had once again failed to put it away.
I was tempted to peek.
My daughter turns 10 in a few days and her artistic abilities are impressive. Her classmates commission drawings from her. She entertained a 4-year-old a waiting room for an hour the other day, drawing what the littler girl demanded: a ballerina performing on a stage in front of an audience. The perspective was spot on, the stage curtains elegant and heavy-looking, the dancer light on her feet. Some of the seats in the front row were empty, the audience members a mix of children and adults. The kid can draw, not professionally by any means, but well.
I am tempted to share her drawings with you.
I didn’t peek. I don’t share her drawings with you until I get her consent.
My daughters have boundaries and I choose to respect them. My little girl will let me leaf through her sketchbook when she is ready. She has shared some drawings with me but says I need to wait to see others.
She shares with me her thoughts on school, life, family, and friendship. I feel like I know what’s going on with her.
She knows that I will respect her boundaries, despite temptation. This is how I keep boundaries from coming between us.
You have a very talented little girl! I still can’t draw that well. I’ll stick with stick figures and emojis.