ok, I love all of you people. and all of your perfect children. and all of the amazing things they are doing. but i just have to be real. i love my kids just as much as you do. i love when they draw cute pictures and when they say cute things. and would you like to know what else my kids do? they do things like these:
kick holes in walls
call each other names
hit each other
nudge each other as they walk by
yell at me and jon that we hate them
refuse to eat any food with nutritional value for days at a time
lose very expensive to replace handheld gaming systems (twice)
pester the two year old until she screams
sleep late on school days
wake up early on weekends & summer days when we have no schedule to keep
torment the adult babysitter to the point of tears
refuse to shower for days at a time
“forget” to use deodorant
lie about having brushed their teeth
keep us awake until 1:30 a.m. arguing about lack of computer time
lose money after they say they’ve put it away
many, many days i feel that i’m losing my mind. is anyone else having these days? sometimes it really doesn’t seem like it. it’s one thing to focus on the positive and reinforce the behavior you want to see in your children. it’s entirely another to put on a front and act like none of these things ever happen at your house.
honestly, i hope none of these things are happening at your house. i hope that your house is all yummy smelling and harmonious. i hope your house has clean floors and windows, that your family eats nutritionally balanced meals every day, before cleaning up the kitchen and going out to exercise together, of course. i hope that your kids always speak kindly and graciously to their grandparents and other adults.
i truly hope the stuff that does happen at your house isn’t more serious than any of the items listed above. and in the end, i know i’m not losing my mind. i do love my kids. parenting is hard. maybe that’s the point of my rant. parenting is hard. can i get an amen?
i feel like i'm always writing the good things on my blog but i should write the bad things too. :) wren hits us in the face, is starting to get fussy about what clothes he's putting on, i have to run all over the house to catch him to get shoes on, get clothes on, change diaper, go out the door, he always wants to go where our friends are not when we hang out in parks etc, he has been really hard to get to eat lately (except for the last few days -- maybe this is changing!), .......... and you know there's more.... so what i'm saying is, Amen! (and i can only imagine what it's like with 3!).
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!! You read my mind and articulated it perfectly!! Thank you. I am feeling relieved that our house is NOT the only place where all of those things you listed happen. I love my children but oh my, can they try the patience and push me to my limits. There have been many days when I don't want to socialize with anyone for fear of what my children may do or say that could be embarrasing. I have had many talks in the car drive home from grocery stores and restaurants. After much embarrassement from their behavior. I have days when I think "yeah, I'm doing a good job raising my kids." Then they exhibit some of the behaviors you listed or the embarrasing in public attitudes they give and I begin to rethink everything I have ever done or said. Am I doing enough to raise them right, has anything I have said to them taken root in their little brains?? I ask these questions all the time. I'm constantly wondering if they are going to turn out to be decent upstanding citizens. Loving and caring adults who know how to treat each other with dignity and respect. To look at how they treat their siblings it makes me wonder. I guess the only thing we can do is do our best and let God take care of the rest. Proverbs always encourages me in this. I go to it frequently. Are my boys angels by no means, are they normal absolutely. There is no PERFECT child out there. And there is no PERFECT parent either. We are all going to make mistakes. But in the end if we loved that is what counts. "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." ~ Proverbs 22:6 (I think of this verse and read it to say "when he is OLD" meaning while the child is still young they may not necessarily exhibit those good behaviors we are training them to have. But those behaviors, if formed while they are young, will be there when they are adults. I place a lot of HOPE on this verse!!) This is Michelle M. from Facebook, MHS '90.
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