This is about half rant and half asking for advice.
My daughter is about 13 and a half. In the past few months, she has lost her halter, let out the donkeys when she put her horse back in the pasture, lost her lead rope, forgotten to close gates, lost her halter again, and this time let out the donkeys again because she didn't close the gate.
I was in the barn cleaning out our stall when she came in and said "Something strange happened."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Well, I thought I closed the gate, but it's open and the donkeys are out."
That was it. If I had let the donkeys out, I would have owned up to it and my first thought would have been, How do I fix this? But it's like it didn't even occur to her. Of course I told her she had to put them back in, but she couldn't. I tried as well, even going so far as to get a lead rope around one of them, but it turns out they don't know how to lead. Now I have a rope burn. So we spent our entire afternoon trying unsuccessfully to round up donkeys. I'm still ticked off about it, because I didn't get to spend any time with my horses either.
Is this just a phase? Am I doing something wrong? Should I have made her stay out there until she managed to round them up? All night if necessary? Should I drop her off one morning and make her stay out there until she finds her halter? You can bet I gave her a lecture about this, but it's like it just rolled right off her back. Then when we got home I took a shower and when I got out my husband was trying to tell her stories to make her feel better, like all of the times when he didn't do something right. I don't think she needs to be made to feel better at this point. I feel like feeling a little bad about what she did might make her not do it in the future.
I usually cool off about things pretty quickly, but I'm still mad about this. I mean, how hard is it to close gates behind you, and to keep track of your personal belongings? I don't know, am I overreacting?
My daughter is about 13 and a half. In the past few months, she has lost her halter, let out the donkeys when she put her horse back in the pasture, lost her lead rope, forgotten to close gates, lost her halter again, and this time let out the donkeys again because she didn't close the gate.
I was in the barn cleaning out our stall when she came in and said "Something strange happened."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Well, I thought I closed the gate, but it's open and the donkeys are out."
That was it. If I had let the donkeys out, I would have owned up to it and my first thought would have been, How do I fix this? But it's like it didn't even occur to her. Of course I told her she had to put them back in, but she couldn't. I tried as well, even going so far as to get a lead rope around one of them, but it turns out they don't know how to lead. Now I have a rope burn. So we spent our entire afternoon trying unsuccessfully to round up donkeys. I'm still ticked off about it, because I didn't get to spend any time with my horses either.
Is this just a phase? Am I doing something wrong? Should I have made her stay out there until she managed to round them up? All night if necessary? Should I drop her off one morning and make her stay out there until she finds her halter? You can bet I gave her a lecture about this, but it's like it just rolled right off her back. Then when we got home I took a shower and when I got out my husband was trying to tell her stories to make her feel better, like all of the times when he didn't do something right. I don't think she needs to be made to feel better at this point. I feel like feeling a little bad about what she did might make her not do it in the future.
I usually cool off about things pretty quickly, but I'm still mad about this. I mean, how hard is it to close gates behind you, and to keep track of your personal belongings? I don't know, am I overreacting?