One of my young adult daughters called recently saying “something you used to say kept speaking to me last night.” (I wonder how long I can keep “young adult;” it somehow makes me feel younger.)

Of course she had my immediate attention. What had I ever said that made such a lasting impression? Maybe I had done something right! What had she been tempted to do?

I’ve never claimed to raise perfect kids and they’ve all done things we wish they hadn’t, but we’ve been very fortunate and blessed with three lovely daughters.

Our daughter said she’d been given two FREE tickets to a professional football game. It was just a preseason game—but still, she had never even been to one although she is a huge fan of football. This girl cannot wait for football season to begin in the fall, has her own fantasy football league (not just a team) and wears the appropriate shirt, and whoops it up as a loud at-home fan each game day. And yes, she’s been known to plan a few church meetings on Sundays around game time. She and one of her sisters know more about football (especially statistics, players, and past history) than my husband. Seriously.

So she was really looking forward to finally going to a game, even though her husband was not wild about the idea of going to just a preseason game on a weeknight, getting home at who knows what awful hour from traffic.

The day of the game she woke up with a piercing headache —bad enough that she didn’t think she should go to work. She rested a lot and by late afternoon was feeling well enough that well … yes … she was entertaining thoughts of maybe going to the football game after all.

That’s when the mom on her shoulder began reminding her, “If you aren’t well enough to go to school (or to work), then you are not well enough to go to the party or concert or game” … [or whatever]. It’s a refrain that probably most of us have heard from our mom or dad—which sometimes we obey and sometimes we don’t. My humble heart surged with a little non-Mennonite pride. Since technically I’m a Mennonite-raised Presbyterian, I guess it would be Presbyterian pride. Whatever. My daughter turned out with ethics and morals—even on game day when the gravity of the gridiron was pretty strong.

She was helped by the fact that she knew her husband wouldn’t mind just staying home, and the fact that the roar of the game could very likely cause her roaring headache to come back. She recalled her younger sister’s first trip to a professional football game when she became so sick from a headache from the deafening sound she could barely enjoy the game. In the end, this “tempted” daughter stayed home, and called me the next day to tell me about it. And gave me permission to share the story.

Just when you think nothing you say as a parent is sinking in, just when your every request has been met by rolled eyes or just “the look,” just as you decide that the generation gap grows ever larger with the growing leaps in technology you can barely keep up with, your offspring puts an electronic arm around you and gives you a sweet upper like that. Awww.

So if your kid is currently refusing to potty train, undergoing terrible twos, is a snotty seventh grader or non-communicative ninth grader, or has a desperate, depressed case of senioritis, cheer up.

There is hope for the day when your daughter or son calls you about an issue you wrangled over and says, “You were right, Mom.”

What have your kids thanked you for and said “You were right”? Post on the Another Way Facebook page or at http://www.thirdway.com/aw, send to melodied@mennomedia.org, or write to Another Way, Box 22, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.

Another Way is a column from Third Way Media by Melodie Davis. She is the author of nine books, most recently Whatever Happened to Dinner and has written Another Way since 1987. She is also the producer and co-host of Shaping Families radio program (shapingfamilies.com) airing nationally.