Hard Way

Tonight was Special Olympics again. Before we left, Claire decided to argue with me about wearing shoes. Now, I'm not the smartest woman around but I think I'm smart enough to know that shoes are a requirement for riding horses. She wanted to convince me otherwise. She KNOWS she saw other kids wearing flip-flops. She would have sworn by it. I knew better but didn't have the energy to argue with her so I made a split decision to say ok and let her find out the hard way. She found out the hard way alright but maybe it was a little too hard. I told the instructor that Claire needed to hear it from her what the proper attire was and then the instructor informed her she couldn't ride today wearing flip-flops. Claire was crushed to say the least!! The look on her face made my heart sink. I had to fight back the tears myself. Maybe this wasn't the time to teach her a lesson. Maybe I was a little too hard. Maybe I should have put another pair of shoes in the car. And I certainly didn't look good in front of the other moms. Oh well. It didn't help that Claire kept repeating, "I'm so mad at myself." Well, one thing is for sure. Claire will not argue about wearing shoes when riding horses again (at least until next time)!!