I promise you didn't drown the boat.

What is in the word promise? Hope. Confirmation. Action.

We make promises everyday that we can't keep. To our spouse, "honey, I promise I will take out the trash." To a colleague, "I promise I will send you that document." Or to yourself, "I promise I won't eat a half dozen cookies today." There are times that we in fact do take out the trash, send that document, and not eat half a dozen cookies, but sometimes we don't hold true to our promises. When there are unfulfilled promises, there can be a mixture of emotions we feel, including some level of disappointment.

Now that I am a parent, I can see the potential pitfalls of making a promise to your child. Mae is still too young to hold me for not keeping a promise. But I know this time is short lived. I am sure all my friends who are parents, or my parents, have regretted making a promise to their child. They might have regretted it the second they said it or maybe, a minute, an hour, a day, or a week later. I wonder what I will promise to Mae that I won't be able to fulfill. Will it be that I pick her up from school on time and one day something keeps me from getting there? Or maybe I will promise her if she finishes her dinner that she will get dessert and then I realize we have no dessert in the house? Or maybe I will promise her that when she turn 8 years old that I will take her to Disney Land and then we can't afford it or don't have time off or some other reason?

Will Mae forgive me for my broken promises? Or will she hold me to them? I wonder if children are more or less nagging and forgiving about promises then adults. I hope she realizes that I always have the best intentions and forgives me for not making good on any of my promises.

Why am I waxing all philosphically about promises you might wonder? Pearson promised me for the last five days that he would post on this blog. At least once a day I have nagged him about doing it. He looks at me and says, "Alison I promise I will do it tomorrow."

To Pearson: Honey, I know you have the best intentions and I forgive you. Just don't promise to do it tomorrow. And I promise, that even though you haven't posted, you didn't drown the boat with me. I hope Mae will be as forgiving about your "promises" or at least a little less nagging then me.