Whats Difficult About My Kids
Funny title, I know, but I didn't really know how else to get started but to just say it. I have been a mother for 10 years now and I'll just be honest and say, there is A LOT of things that is difficult about kids in general. The weight we bear as parents to guide, teach, disciple, and just keep alive sometimes, on the daily is a huge task. I take this responsibility very seriously as this is what I do all day every day as a stay at home mom. Some days it gets to me where I'm almost too invested and small things become big things. I forget that they are people and lose perspective, actually that happens more frequently than I would like to admit. So is it difficult to parent them, yes, for a lot of different reasons and maybe that can be a different blog with more grace and Jesus emphases, but thats not what I find to be difficult ABOUT them.
I have loved every stage that my kids have gone thru. But to be honest, I don't love it at the start of one. A new stage means they are changing, learning new things, testing new boundaries, and seeking more independence. At the start of this stage, I fight it. I just got use to the stage they were in!! I just started enjoying it, loving it, and figuring out them as a person in THIS stage! Now they want to grow a little more and change on me, hahaha!
In the earlier years of our parenting it was just the two boys and they were so close in age that they were always in the same stage. If one would move into a new stage, the other one would follow after with in a month or so. It made for a fairly easy transition. Then we had a surprise and she has changed the dynamic of our family in almost every way. I think every family with multiple kids will agree with me that what I find to be difficult ABOUT my kids is the different stages they are in, never mind the different genders. When we have a 10 and 8 (almost 9) year old boys that want to sit on their devices, or play with legos, or make robots and forts, or play the "big boy" sports, and then have an almost 2 year old girl that wants to play Patty Cake, or read picture books, or color (but not really), or just wants her brothers attention all day long. Or like when our 8 year old is home from school cuz he is sick, and Adelyn won't leave him alone, which is what is happening today, and trying to explain to her that she can't play with him or to leave him alone (it makes not sharing germs very difficult), she doesn't understand. Or when the boys have off school and Mommy and Addie had planned a play date with friends, we have to talk about "going to a baby's play date is so not cool, Mom!" and how laying down your wants for someone else's is the better response. It makes for some very interesting teaching times!
I think having Adelyn added to our family has grown us so much closer as a family. It has moved us out of being comfortable with just the 4 of us, and made us look differently at situations. It has made us see our selfishness in a big way as well. The boys do pretty well with her for the most part, Aaron and Addie have an amazing bond. There is many times I see the boys doing things with her to include her, or playing what she wants to play, caring well for her. But we have discovered that we need to be more intentional at talking to the boys about being more selfless when it comes to giving up our wants for someone else, but also being intentional about doing things for and with the boys so that they are just as valued. We definitely don't have it figured out!! These different stages are difficult to navigate thru and it is a struggle for me at times.
I have loved every stage that my kids have gone thru. But to be honest, I don't love it at the start of one. A new stage means they are changing, learning new things, testing new boundaries, and seeking more independence. At the start of this stage, I fight it. I just got use to the stage they were in!! I just started enjoying it, loving it, and figuring out them as a person in THIS stage! Now they want to grow a little more and change on me, hahaha!
In the earlier years of our parenting it was just the two boys and they were so close in age that they were always in the same stage. If one would move into a new stage, the other one would follow after with in a month or so. It made for a fairly easy transition. Then we had a surprise and she has changed the dynamic of our family in almost every way. I think every family with multiple kids will agree with me that what I find to be difficult ABOUT my kids is the different stages they are in, never mind the different genders. When we have a 10 and 8 (almost 9) year old boys that want to sit on their devices, or play with legos, or make robots and forts, or play the "big boy" sports, and then have an almost 2 year old girl that wants to play Patty Cake, or read picture books, or color (but not really), or just wants her brothers attention all day long. Or like when our 8 year old is home from school cuz he is sick, and Adelyn won't leave him alone, which is what is happening today, and trying to explain to her that she can't play with him or to leave him alone (it makes not sharing germs very difficult), she doesn't understand. Or when the boys have off school and Mommy and Addie had planned a play date with friends, we have to talk about "going to a baby's play date is so not cool, Mom!" and how laying down your wants for someone else's is the better response. It makes for some very interesting teaching times!
I think having Adelyn added to our family has grown us so much closer as a family. It has moved us out of being comfortable with just the 4 of us, and made us look differently at situations. It has made us see our selfishness in a big way as well. The boys do pretty well with her for the most part, Aaron and Addie have an amazing bond. There is many times I see the boys doing things with her to include her, or playing what she wants to play, caring well for her. But we have discovered that we need to be more intentional at talking to the boys about being more selfless when it comes to giving up our wants for someone else, but also being intentional about doing things for and with the boys so that they are just as valued. We definitely don't have it figured out!! These different stages are difficult to navigate thru and it is a struggle for me at times.
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