for my girls

So ... I should preface this by saying ... most of my 'deeper' posts start out days ahead of time in my head. I just feel a bunch of thoughts coming on and unfortunately for you dear readers ... they usually end up here in a spewed-out mess of jambalaya!

This post started in my head as a list to my girls. A list of who I want them to be, what my wishes and desires are for them. And as I'm thinking of it and listing it out {in my head}, I realized if I did that in a post, it may seem somewhat morbid without explaining why ... especially given that I'm traveling and away from them and God forbid something happened. So ... here is where this post is coming from.

I had a customer at the store who ordered wedding invitations. Through variety of {honest and unfortunate} mistakes her order was never placed. A few weeks later, she called to inquire about her order. Uh-oh! When we finally found her order and realized what happened, I called her back to explain.

She was very nice, but looking for some sort of compensation. "10 percent?" I asked. "I was really hoping for more than that," she answered. We settled on 20 percent. And that I would do my best to get her envelopes printed and pre-shipped so she could start addressing them.

I told her I'd get back to her the next day. I would be traveling, but would call her as soon as I got in. When we landed, I checked my emails to see if the store had an update for me, and thus began a flurry of upset.

I was told this woman called the store and was very upset and felt 20% was not compensation enough. I was thoroughly confused because it didn't sound like the woman I had talked to the night before. I called the number I was given and was shocked to find out it was the bride's mom!

Now, I admit ... I've probably had my mom cover for me for things far beyond the age of appropriateness {i.e., calling in sick for me ...}. But come on!

This mother was horrendous to talk to. Seriously. It was an honest mistake we'd made. I was doing all I could to rectify the situation. I even offered to hand-address all 175 of her invites!

The mother said she just didn't know that she could 'trust' us, considering how we wronged them. Seriously?!? I may have raised my voice at that point {ever so slightly, mind you}, as I explained to her that I don't run my business that way. It was an honest mistake. We realized what happened {mis-filing} and are doing all we can to make it better.

The wedding isn't until the third{ish} week in May. The reply date is the end of April ... they really have plenty of time for these to get out. I understand the frustration ... but are the accusations and drama necessary?

When I finally hung up the phone with her, she had a 45% discount, rush-processing, and overnight shipping {all paid by bwp}. Curt had an upset wife in a bundle of tears ... mind you, we had literally just arrived and walked into our room at this point.

Okay, so the reason for my post? In playing this all over in my head, I began to wonder ... what is this mother teaching her daughter.

To fight, fight, fight ... break someone down to the point of tears, to get an obscene discount and come off as a problematic person/customer?

Definitely not what I want to teach my children. And so the post begins:

For My Girls
be kind, loving, and generous
hold doors open
say please and thank you
be understanding & patient
hold judgement
leave large tips
clean up after yourself
give to others
be courteous
be respectful ... of everyone
be kind
if someone wants to pass you, let them
honor your family
be joyful
jealousy will get you nothing
work hard
be loving
have goals ... and follow them
pray
be kind
have compassion
be honest
marry a Christian boy
smile ... a lot
if invited for dinner, help wash the dishes
count your blessings, no matter how small
take walks
laugh ... a lot
cherish friendships
be kind
love God with all your heart
love yourself