Yesterday I was talking with my sister, and (along with a million other subjects), one thing we talked about was the importance of doing what is best. I've heard it said before that you can tell what is most important to our Heavenly Father by looking at what the world and the devil attack the most.
Today I read THIS post on another blog.
I love things like this. I love it when parents learn something about themselves, something they didn't realize they were doing, or needed to do, or wanted to to.
I needed to comment on this, and thought I'd copy it here (with a little expanding too)
Wonderfully written.
Along with this idea . . . I grew up KNOWING that my parents enjoyed me more and more each year. I constantly heard them saying things like “I hate it when people call it ‘terrible twos’. It’s TERRIFIC TWOS”, or “having 4 teenage girls is a joy, not a burden. I love having such great conversations with my daughters now.”
Think of the difference of that and what you usually hear. I knew my parents wanted to be around me. I knew they expected me to act appropriately so everyone ELSE would also want to be around me. We didn’t have moody teenagers because we were expected to be pleasant. (and had consequences too!)
I don’t expect my kids to be perfect, but I do expect them to grow and change. And yes, my three year old screams with the best of them (constantly too!). But I look and that sparkle in her eyes, and celebrate the little things – like the fact that she is finally understanding us (she has a severe communication delay)
Or the inventiveness of my 8 year old. Yes, today she started acting like a moody teenager. But look at just how much she’s grown.
Or listening to my 7 year old giggle as he plays with his 1 year old brother.
Every day, all 4 of my kids are a joy. Sometimes you have to dig under the unpleasantness to see it, but it IS there! And what an exciting thing it is to be able to discover that joy in each of them as they grow too.
Today I read THIS post on another blog.
I love things like this. I love it when parents learn something about themselves, something they didn't realize they were doing, or needed to do, or wanted to to.
I needed to comment on this, and thought I'd copy it here (with a little expanding too)
Wonderfully written.
Along with this idea . . . I grew up KNOWING that my parents enjoyed me more and more each year. I constantly heard them saying things like “I hate it when people call it ‘terrible twos’. It’s TERRIFIC TWOS”, or “having 4 teenage girls is a joy, not a burden. I love having such great conversations with my daughters now.”
Think of the difference of that and what you usually hear. I knew my parents wanted to be around me. I knew they expected me to act appropriately so everyone ELSE would also want to be around me. We didn’t have moody teenagers because we were expected to be pleasant. (and had consequences too!)
I don’t expect my kids to be perfect, but I do expect them to grow and change. And yes, my three year old screams with the best of them (constantly too!). But I look and that sparkle in her eyes, and celebrate the little things – like the fact that she is finally understanding us (she has a severe communication delay)
Or the inventiveness of my 8 year old. Yes, today she started acting like a moody teenager. But look at just how much she’s grown.
Or listening to my 7 year old giggle as he plays with his 1 year old brother.
Every day, all 4 of my kids are a joy. Sometimes you have to dig under the unpleasantness to see it, but it IS there! And what an exciting thing it is to be able to discover that joy in each of them as they grow too.
Hi! I came over from the Handmade Home- I love what you said about your sisters and you knowing your parents loved every stage. I am immediately going to try to put that into practice. We got comments from 'Witchy teenage girls' down to 'terrible twos' (although apparently my mom really liked 3, which she called 'sweet threes'). I've always worked to be more positive in my house- and this is one of the ways to do it.
ReplyDeleteYour family is beautiful =)
Sarah
Being one of those teenagers... Let's be honest, we all had moody times. (I swear Dad always tried to work a bit extra one week every month. Our house was a hormonal place!) However, I agree, that our parents were awesome. Because they expected goodness and joy, we had it. Yes, we had our moody moments, but because of our parents that was the exception, not the norm. Our parents rock. Thanks for this, I need to find the joy in my girls a little bit more.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the kiddos but I can find more joy in the every day things! Thanks!!
ReplyDelete