Keeping Promises

Promises, their importance and, specifically, the importance of keeping them, has been a big topic in my home recently. My girl has gotten into the habit of promising not to talk back, promising not to flip out when I drop her off at camp, promising to put her shoes and clothes away when she takes them off, and so on. I have been stressing the need to keep such promises, to follow through on what you say you will do in life. There is, after all, not much worse the dealing with an individual (adult or child) who talks to much and acts to little. A major thing to keep in mind when trying to teach a child any lesson is to live the message yourself ("Be the change you want to see in others", to quote Gandhi), so I have been taking extra special care to follow through on every single promise I make to her and her mother.

Recently, on our short trip to camp/school, she asked to listen to "Ride, Ride, Ride" by Joe McDermott. The song was about half way through when we pulled into the parking lot. We hung out in the car, listening to the end before unbuckling and heading towards the school's bright red door. That song was recorded live and is still her favorite on the disc. I said to her how cool it would be to see him perform it live in person. I told her that if McDermott ever came to town, or to any town within driving distance, we would be there.

Her response: "Do you promise?"

Well, I am super duper excited to have learned that Joe McDermott is playing in Vienna, Virginia at Jammin' Java (a venue I just read about in Paste Magazine) on Saturday July 28th.

We are so freakin' there!

And we will be able to make a day out of it with her and her little sister, in either D.C. or Baltimore's Inner Harbor on the way back home. Yippie!