Yesterday Calli was playing with the paint cans. Apparently I failed to put a lid on tightly. When she was playing she knocked one over and about half a can of white paint spilled on the floor in the garage.

I probably reacted just a tiny bit louder than I should have when I asked her to back away from the mess. I didn’t yell or scream but she kind of jumped in a startled way.

I cleaned it up and didn’t fuss. Clearly the onus was on me to properly seal my paint cans and this wouldn’t have happened. But it took me a bit to clean up because oh man it was a mess. I have a permanent mark on my floor. (This is part of the reason I didn’t want to do a bigger fancier job of putting in flooring in the garage.)

When I was about done Calli came in and had her head hanging down. She said, “I’m sorry. It was an accident. Will you forgive me?”

Every time my kids say something like that I feel like I abruptly start choking because my throat closes.

“Baby it was an accident. Of course I forgive you.”

Her eyes light up. Her eyebrows go up and her whole body wriggles with excitement. “You forgive me? You aren’t mad?”

“No baby, I’m not mad.”

Then she launches herself at my neck.

It feels like these are the most important moments of my life. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Of course I forgive you. There is no other option for us.

I’m going to make progress on the play structure again today. I kind of hope to be done painting by this weekend. Right now I’m letting the paint cure before I put the roof on. It is very bright and colorful. Like whoa.