Tripping 'em up: or, Sorry, My Bad!

I am the reigning Queen of Procrastination. Here is the proof:

My son has asked that he be allowed to keep his hair "long-ish." I consented; after all, he's 13. My only rule was that his hair could never cover his eyes - I cannot stand not seeing my baby's eyes. He said, "That's cool," then said I could trim his hair whenever I thought it got too long. Great plan, right? It would have been, if it wasn't for that pesky matter of following-through. From the photo you can easily surmise that I dropped the ball on this one. I knew it was getting longer, but it's so hot, I need to to laundry, we need to go back-to-school shopping, blah, blah, blah; excuses, excuses. The result of my procrastination? The rule I placed in my son's lap was broken.

The situation was corrected this afternoon after work. I can now easily see my boy's eyes and he likes his new 'do. I kept it a little shaggy like he seems to want it now, but it is now short enough that he won't be sent home on the first day of school (yes, they have rules about hair length).

After reflecting on this situation a bit, I am more than a little embarrassed. I placed a requirement on my son that, in reality, was my responsibility. Yes, he could have reminded me about the need for a haircut, but short of chasing me around with scissors and a comb (which would be a risky move for many reasons), what else could he do? This time it was something relatively benign. Seriously, haircut, schmaircut; not the hill I want to die on, you know? But it does make me wonder about expectations I place on others that are at least partially out of their control. How often do I hold others accountable for things that are -to some degree- also my responsibility? It brings me back to the days when my parents told me to be careful when I point my finger at someone because that leaves three more fingers pointing back at me!

Just a little something I want to keep in mind the next time I see a little sawdust and decide to get fired up about it...

And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? Luke 6:41, NLT