on making mistakes

I made a mistake the other day, and I'm having a hard time shaking it. We got a babysitter for Saturday night, and we went out with our friends B and B and then they stayed overnight. When we got home, I insisted they move their car to the other side of the road so they wouldn't get a ticket. They thought they were on the correct side, and I insisted they were wrong and needed to move their car. Well, guess what. They found a $20 ticket on their windshield in the morning.

They never said anything to us, but I realized it halfway through the day. I called and left a message, profusely apologizing. These friends are incredibly sweet, and when Bob talked with them later in the day and offered to pay the ticket, they declined and said it was no big deal.

I am so bothered about this. Today, on the walk to school, I decided I would send them $20 in the mail with a note saying, if they won't accept it, they can donate it to a charity or something. I don't care and don't need to know either way. This is more to ease my guilt than anything.

Guilt is an interesting emotion and one worth pondering.

I've also been pondering why I'm beating myself up so much about this. When my kids make mistakes, I tell them to let it go, to learn and move forward. Why does something so little as a $20 parking ticket set me into such a downward spiral?

(to not end on such a bummer note, let me add that our weekend really was quite fun. On Saturday night, we went to a very fun and delicious restaurant, and afterwards we went mini golfing. We had lots of laughs. On Sunday, I took Alex and Finn to the UW men's basketball game, tickets courtesy of a friend, which was a nailbiter of a game! Badgers were down by 16 points, caught up and went into overtime, and they ended up winning. It was a blast being there with my kiddos and sharing in the excitement of the crowd.)