I remember when I was a kid, people would often ask my mom why she didn't put us in school. She had many reasons, I'm sure, but the one reason I remember her giving the most often was this: I love my kids. I want them with me. I miss them when they're gone. That made a big impact on me as a kid. I felt wanted and appreciated.
To this day, I don't know many people who feel that way about their kids. I often see people complain about having their kids home from school, etc. I don't love being with mine all the time, and I need frequent, regular breaks. But I pray often for God to keep my heart soft toward my kids. If I'm angry or frustrated with one of them, I ask Him to change my heart so I can treat that child with respect and kindness.
The thing that I think helps the most with this, is to remember my imperfections and God's complete forgiveness and love for me. It's only through understanding how much I'm given grace that I can really give grace to my kids and other people around me.
I think this is a huge part of being able to homeschool. Those are some long hours with my kids. I get really really tired sometimes. But I want to fall in love with who my kids are as people. Hannah is incredibly organized and correct. She can bring order to chaos, and that is something people will value in her for the rest of her life. Audrey is so full of joy. She has an amazing sense of humor and she's not even 4! Tessa is so tolerant and patient. She just loves people and loves to communicate. They really are incredible people. We have some hard days, but rather than focusing on those, I want to focus on my kids strengths and allow the process of parenting them to help me become the person I'm supposed to be, as well as helping train them in the way they should go.
What about you? What traits do you appreciate in your kids? What do you do on hard days to refocus and change the atmosphere? Any thoughts about creating an atmosphere of respect and love in your home?
What I love about my boys. I love that they are as opposite as day and night. I love their sense of humor. I love their laughs and their hugs. I love listening to their prayers. I love listening Matthew sing his favorite worship song, "Promises", I love how Caleb is so full of joy.
ReplyDeleteOn hard days to refocus I have the boys & I sit down together and we pray together. Through out the day when I feel myself getting overwhelmed, I continue to stop drop and pray, I put worship music on and we dance.
I really appreciated this posting today. It helps to keep it all in perspective and truly focus on the precious gifts our children are.
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