Thursday, January 21, 2010

The problem with all of us

Some of you already know, as I have told you, that we have most definitely been entering the "terrible twos", and a tad early at that. Miss Hazel definitely is opinionated and likes to let us know. So that means we have had to buckle down and try to be supremely consistent with her (which seems to always be the problem with parenting: consistency). And while she quite honestly can be a sinful brat (like the rest of us) sometimes, other times she can be surprisingly sweet. I love it when I'm doing dishes she will come up, pat me on the leg, say, "Hi!", and then go back to playing. Or right now she is cuddling me by the computer and we have been doing bouncy rides all afternoon.

She is a blessing to us in so many ways, but honestly, having kids makes you want to be a better Christian and to truly reflect Christ for them so that they know what it is they should be aiming for. Whenever I mess up, I think, well that wasn't a great example for Hazel. It also has improved my prayer life. Constantly needing wisdom from the Lord brings up other reminders of things that I need to bring to Him in prayer.

So there you go, I guess you could say parenting brings out the best and the worst in you. And she's only 17 months old. I wonder what will happen when she's a teenager...

5 comments:

Grace said...

I know what you are going through. Everyday.

Mary and Jim said...

You have the right attitude- you're doing better than I did!

Mavis said...

if you are a fan of the "consistency" mantra you need to try this parenting seminar by craig caster. it's a kick in the pants. i need to listen to it again. i just found out i can put just the audio file on my ipod, so i will have to get on it. but the fellow is funny and really hard core. i think i like to spank more than he does (i've always been a great fan of violence) but he does establish the rod as the backdrop for authority.

http://www.parentingministry.org/parenting-class/session-1-mainmenu-67

he's just more creative for everyday discipline. the only area i really disagree with him. i've never bought the "work as punishment" idea. my parents always taught me that work is fun, so i guess i'll have to reason it out when i get there and my children are too old to swat. but try him. my favorite is that he is *cheerful*. he emphasizes that all your discipline can be done with a smile. love it.

thanks*m

Cheryl, Ripon said...

...and the "worst" they are one moment the more charming they can be the next. I guess we as adults can be that way some times, too. I liked your analogy w/ our Christian walk.

Tiffany said...

I love this little post. Thanks for your honesty. I'm constantly apologizing to my now-3-year-old for my mistakes, but I'm hoping it's good modeling. By the way, I'm pretty positive that these toddler/pre-school years are oddly similar to the teenage ones. I'm seeing this as bootcamp.