It's 11 o'clock on a Friday night and I am reveling in a rare treat of a whole evening of quiet. Aaron is off on a guy's night out so once the boys were in bed I was able to kick back on the couch with a bowl of ice cream and watch whatever I wanted on Netflix.
Of course, evenings of quiet also by nature seem to bring with them time for reflection.
We had a few difficult days this past week. Consistent discipline is so hard! I have been re-reading and excellent book called Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids. This is hands down one of the best parenting books that I have read. I am formulating a whole post on this. But, the main thing that was helpful for me was establishing a consistent discipline routine. In the past 2 weeks I have started (trying) to handle every discipline situation with the exact same 4 steps. The first week was awesome! The boys were really responding and I was able to keep my cool.
Then this week all hell seemed to break loose! I think the boys are testing whether I will be calm and consistent. And I will admit that there were a few times when I totally lost my cool. Parenting is humbling!
I continue to feel the Spirit's prompting to give more. But the more prompting I feel the more more needs I see and the more overwhelmed and impotent I feel. There are needs in our church, needs in our community, needs in the world. I have been following Ann Voskamp as she is in Guatemala with Compassion International. Her posts have me in tears as she paints the pictures of hope and the gospel in the midst of poverty and seeming hopelessness. My heart wonders, "What do I do?" I have so much, what do I give?
We had a fun school day today. We were learning about Australia this week and today Jeremiah got to make a diorama of the Great Barrier Reef. He loved it! He colored and pasted and in the end presented us with a shoe box full of imaginatively colored marine life. He really enjoys it when he can do things that are interesting and creative and educational all by himself. So I spend my time going through the daily lessons that are on the computer finding the ones that I know he will enjoy. Worksheets bore him.
Nathaniel declared today, after a week of accidents, that he wanted to wear diapers again. I gave in. It's not worth a battle is it? He'll be ready for underwear when he is ready, not a minute before. He has been waiting all week for the birthday party of his friend "Libby-Kake" (Libby Kate). Everyday he has asked, "Today we go to the party?" The boys went with me to the store the other day and picked out pretty hair clips for her because they had seen her play with mine. They were so thoughtful and generous! They were so proud of their choices. Jeremiah asks me excitedly every night, "Do you think Libby Kate will like her hair clips best?!" Nathaniel insisted that we pick out "glirl" (girl) clips and not boy clips. He is funny.
Well, I should close these ramblings. It is getting late and morning always comes early in this house.
No comments:
Post a Comment