Last night, after everyone was finally asleep, I prayed for more patience and kindness and compassion. When we woke up, I greeted each child with a smile, hug, and "I'm so happy to see you this morning" instead of hissing "it is way too early to wake up, go lay down RIGHT NOW." Of course, it is much easier to be kind at 8:45 than at 6am. Which is especially true for those small children. How unfair of me to be annoyed with them for acting out due to being tired, when I was doing the exact same thing. I spent a lot of time yesterday getting angry at them, then getting angry at myself for expecting them to behave better than I personally could manage. I don't feel like I managed our time very well yesterday and today I am feeling badly about that. It's amazing how one bad day can destroy your confidence and perspective, causing the future to look like a bleak stream of poor choices and endless hours of misery. But the one constant of parenting is that nothing stays constant, which makes me nostalgic about the good times, but oh what a blessing when it comes to the tough parts. Today is a new day, with many many opportunities for me to respond with kind words and fun ideas. So far, so good- and it's almost nap time.
Ethan cutting pieces of a cookie for Evan on his "knifing board."
2 comments:
Hang in there!!! And great outlook. Start each day fresh!! We all have THOSE days.
Dave usually comes home on THOSE days to me searching on Monster, updating my resume'& muttering about how working a job would be so much easier than THIS!
Anyway, this will pass :)
Good job Jenny! You can do it! Hope today was a good day. You are a terrific mom.
Post a Comment