The kids are fighting all day. No one is sharing. Another note home from the teacher about unacceptable behavior. Refusal to eat dinner. Refusal to poop on the potty. Fits about watching a movie. No obedience. Crying about brushing teeth.
I am a firm believer that children make their own decisions, including bad ones, despite parental influence. And yet, it is my responsibility to teach them. To model behavior.
So how much of who they are is up to me? Am I to blame for days like this? If not, how much responsibility lands on me? And why am I so embarrassed and disappointed when they make their own poor choices?
Uggh. Today I feel defeated. Time for a long soak in a hot bath, early bed time, and pray for a better day tomorrow.
4 comments:
I hate days like that. I wish our kids could make good choices all the time and that they would remember everything we try and teach them but all we can do is just show them the right way and trust God will guide them. They'll make mistakes for sure but they'll also learn from them and become better from it. Of course, all this doesn't help when all you wanna do is just throw in the towel on the day! Hang in there mama
Praying for you. I've had many days like this. In fact, had one today once the bigs got home from school. Holly is right though. All we CAN do is show them right from wrong and let them make decisions from that. God works out the kinks in the process.
:::hugs:::
Sounds familiar to me. Days like that make me look forward to waking up the next day. :) Hang in there!
I hate days like that...and have often struggled with the same questions. My friend, Betsy, wisely reminds me when I try to beat myself up with guilt...that God was the perfect parent and His children still sinned and rebelled. Adam and Eve...in the paradise of the garden still ate the apple.
When I feel like I've dropped the ball in the area of discipline, or missed an opportunity to teach, my husband often reminds me: "Don't worry, honey, he will give you another opportunity...probably tomorrow."
Hang in there, mama, and remember that whether we get it all right, or not, we are covered in much grace. Keep fighting the good fight. I promise you when you get to the end of this journey, these day to day struggles will not matter in the grand scheme of who your children will grow to be. In fact, you will laugh about much of it one day. I know that doesn't help right now, but it is true. The things I stressed about over my Timothy (who will be 18 years old on Friday) when he was young, seemed to work themselves out, and aren't at all the things that affected the end result. He has learned much more from how we lived than what we thought we were teaching him with our words.
Like the Lord, who sees the attitude of our hearts, our children seem to have the remarkable ability to do the same, to some extent. They see who we are. Those are the things they catch. I have a new blog address...and I wrote a bit about it in my most recent post if you want to check it out. A lot of people aren't finding us since the switch...or seeing when we have a new post, since Reader has to be updated with our new address. We are at: http://blog.sufficientgraceministries.org
Here's the post I was talking about: http://blog.sufficientgraceministries.org/2012/01/eighteen/
Love to you...and keep on keepin' on, mama!
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