Stop? How stop? Time ticks... life goes on.
No.
S.t.o.p.
Just stop.
I've decided to cool it on playdates. I've decided to let June pick who we play with a how often we schedule our days. I'm not throwing my hands up and letting him call the shots. On the contrary, I realized that I need to slow down and stop the crazy pace. When I saw June's behavior bc intense as a early toddler a friend was quick to tell me that I needed more playdates. We go on playdates several several times a week. It took until now to realize that while June is a social child, he needs down time, space, and connections with me one-on-one.
So I'm stopping. I'm reevaluating the pace of our lives and I'm making a few changes. We are going to start homeschooling June soon... or learning at home - I love that term. And that in itself is going to change our day so why not start a shift now. Here are a few things I've been toying with (because I still need schedule and routine... even if it's not in the form of playdates)
- AM walk around the block.
- The kids love getting outside and don't always want to be confined to the backyard. I'm thinking that after breakfast we do a walk around the block before putting Elizabeth for a morning nap.
- Morning Mass
- This one I need to pray on. The closest church is 15 minutes away... so that's a 1/2 hour of driving every morning. Plus that's a gamble, me with 3 kids in a silent morning Mass. Scary. But I am never happier then when I can get to morning Mass. I took June for a few months when we lived in NJ and I adored our schedule. I'm toying with adding it back in, but I need to pray for guidence as to whether it's really a good step or not necessary with such a young family.
- Mommy playtime
- I'm so completely busy around the house that I rarely get down and really really play with my kids. Life is busy: cleaning and laundry take up most of my time and trying to keep up the "homemaker" end of my job leaves my kids to fend for themselves a LOT of the time. So. I'm going to interact with my kids, show them love, and play.
- Be gentle
- I'm good at getting mad QUICK and yelling even quicker. I've been trying for a while to be gentle with the kids. I want to be one of those moms that comes off totally collected, but one you don't cross. I'm not a softy. In fact, I'm awesome at being pretty hard core and cold hearted. It's something I've been trying to get away from for a while, but that said, I'm not a pushover and I can hold my ground on pretty much anything. (and I wonder where June gets his stubborn streak from... HA!) But I want to foster respect and be loving and gentle towards my children, letting consequences speak for themselves when needed.
It comforts me to know that God puts everyone through trials to test their will and faith. I'm not alone. The holiest of people were pushed to their limit and God filtered through them when they were at their breaking point. I feel like I've come decently close to a breaking point at times and it's scary to think that if I've never yet hit my limit... how much worse does it have to get before I reach the point where God takes over.
That said, hopefully with more and more prayers and positive intentional parenting I will gain happier kids and a bit more sanity. Self denial, self sacrifice, and lots of love is what parenting is... let's hope with those items I can turn around some behaviors and set my family back on track. And one thing is for certain: I've got God as my guide and a Guardian Angel pushing me along too.
Parenting isn't for wimps. It's the most wonderful trial I've ever been through.
1 comment:
"Like" :)
And agree... looking forward to seeing how the journey goes. Just keep turning to God and persevering, friend :)
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