Recently it has become apparent to Heidi and I that Maren and Hazel (our 4 and 2 year olds) are really very different. I know this probably comes as no shock to those of you who have children. You probably came to this realization a long time ago. For me it is just starting to sink in.
Discipline: So, Maren just needs a look from me and she melts into tears. She can be pretty melodramatic and often reacts emotionally in a way I hadn't intended with even the slightest hint of disaproval. I have had her longer so I have grown accustom to this type of reaction and how to respond.
Hazel on the other hand is very kind yet she knows what she wants. When she gets in trouble and needs some correction the look doesnt work so well. She almost stairs back at me and says "is that all you are going to do?" Don't get me wrong she is the sweetest little thing yet when I put her in the time-out chair she seems to be years ahead mentally. I just know she is thinking, "are you kidding me Dad, you are putting me in a chair and you think that is going to bother me?" As our eyes lock in these moments of silent intellectual wrangling I think to my self, "How do I do this? And where do these kids come from? Are they really mine? And if they are mine and I am one of their parents I guess i am somehow the one best suited to help them learn."
So have you ever wondered that? Have you ever wondered why you have the kids you have; each one individually with their unique quirks and talents? So why do you think you were sent the kids you have? I certainly believe that each child was sent to their particular parents for a reason. That is why parenting is so hard. Knowing that the Lord qualifies he whom he calls (I would assume sending me Maren and Hazel would signal a call and thereby invoking the qualification clause.) at least gives me the hope that I will figure it out eventually.
Luckily they are small and are already over whatever it is they are in trouble about while my gears are still turning and smoking over what I should do about it.
Good night.
God-Welcome to the wonderful world of parenting! Believe me, son, just when you think you've figured out the rules of the game, the game will most certainly change. And you're right that each child comes into our lives for a certain reason and purpose and its mostly to teach the parent humility. We are an arrogrant species, known as parents, and sometimes the simple love and logic of a child can be a pure, given form of learning. Either way, they are truely gifts from God and every moment, good and bad, is truely precious. Remember that they are only on loan to us and we have to send them on their way. THAT day comes way too soon.... You and Heidi are doing a good job with Heavenly Father's charges....
ReplyDeleteThanks Mom.
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