I know it. Anyone who knows me knows it.
I was raised in a family that did a lot of teasing and bantering. We all enjoyed it (I think). We also got pretty good at it. I would needle the twins and Matt, and they'd tease and joke right back. As adults, I'd tell you that I no longer enjoy any advantage from 'advanced age.' I'm outmatched in many respects. I may have Kathleen beat, because she's plain nice, but otherwise I can't make any claims to greatness.
Anyway, I was chasing Shane around the kitchen today and saw our "To-Do List" whiteboard again for the first time in a long time. The ink had dried to the point it didn't wipe off easy. I had a little flashback to when it was first put up and recalled my prediction about how often it would be used. In my infinite wisdom, I made a smart remark to Carrie.
I admit, that while I said it in a joking manner, I was going for an "I told you so." Carrie got a little annoyed and let me know it. Then she agreed the board hadn't been used much, and promptly forgave me for being me (Have I mentioned I love my wife?). My first reaction to all this was, "can't she take a joke?" That was followed by me stopping and thinking for a moment.
I ain't prefect. I hate admitting when I screw up, but I'll admit it. My stooping to an "I told you so" isn't a major confession in any shape or form, but it's enough of one I don't mind posting on the internet.
Little irks me more than when someone refuses to admit a mistake. If you don't admit it, you can't learn from it. If you don't learn from it, you'll repeat it.
When I thought about it, I made sure to apologize to Carrie. I'm not going to change my clowning ways, but this time it wasn't a mutually funny comment. Jokes that are funny to you and annoy another person...well, that's an insult. "I told you so's" always look like a good idea at the time, but even if there's some sort of valuable, life-saving lesson to be learned, the wrong delivery will leave the other person feeling sour.
I don't want Shane to grow-up as a person who cannot admit to his own mistakes. I need to be very aware of my own mistakes and make sure I model this for him. It won't be too hard, because Nana always called me "the poster child for ADHD." There will be plenty of mistakes I'll be making!
This post sounded a lot more eloquent, funny, and all-around awesome in my head. It's funny how actually writing something down can spoil some of that.
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