We lost a family member last week.
DH's family lost a family member. His father died. It was quite sudden. DH had to fly home. We waited for the Red Cross message to come in so that we could put in the paper work and book a flight home. Okay so I booked the flight and his superiors did the paperwork for his release. DH didn't have to do much but just pack up thankfully.
Due to storms his 7 hour flight took 22 hours to reach its destination. That really was horrible. His mother hired a car and driver to pick him up at the new location where the flight path went as the original one was no longer an option.
Three days later he was back home.
We celebrated my birthday this week. My daughter designed my cake. I might like chocolate but not as much as she does. Thankfully DH stepped in and said we needed a white cake or else I'm sure she would have ordered a chocolate one too.
My daughter can now bake brownies from scratch. We baked them from a recipe, a favorite of mine, the night DH had to fly out. I handed her all the ingredients with the exception of the eggs. She got the carton of eggs out of the fridge herself, cracked the two eggs, and put the egg carton back in the fridge. She stirred the entire contents of the bowl and poured it into the greased pan. All I had to do was set the oven and put the pan in to bake. Not bad for a three year old.
I think most Americans baby their kids way too much and under estimate their abilities. My daughter is a bit of a free spirit I guess and learns the same way. She is smart I'll admit that but I'm sure if more parents paid as much attention to their children as I do to mine then they would have children just as bright. Mind you...learning disabled is different and I'm not saying that more attention to your child would change that a bit.