Hannah is rebelling against the potty. She is also showing signs of major attitude in the form of spitting. If she gets mad at it you, she WILL spit at you. Not once, not twice, but multiple times. Just to make sure you know that she's mad at you.
Beth had a rough week at school. She's pushing boundaries, and as a result, she's pushing my patience to the limit.
I like the age of 6 (Beth) better than the age of 2 (Hannah) in the life of girlhood; however, right now, I wish they were BOTH 18 and off at college!
Well... not really... :-) It's just hard. This mommy job. Especially so after working a full day teaching others' kids how to behave and learn. So, thanks for giving me a moment to vent. Now, on to what I've learned as a result of all this - because you KNOW the good Lord always uses ALL things for our benefit (Romans 8:28).
As I struggled this week with trying to talk to Beth about why we just don't do certain things, I talked to her about the ten commandments. She asked me what they were. I reminded her about Moses, and I said a few of the commandments... do not steal... do not lie... and then I struggled to remember them all. (cue Mommy fail) Actually, I remembered a couple more, but how do you explain "Do not commit adultery" to a six year old?!
Anyway, after our short discussion on the commandments, I went to re-read Deuteronomy 5, and I came across this in chapter 6:
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
After reading that, I was convicted. Michael and I have certainly fallen down "on the job" when it comes to teaching Beth - and even Hannah - about THE commandments. Obviously, God felt these were VERY important because as I scanned chapters 5 through 8 of Deuteronomy, I observed that the phrase "be careful" shows up EIGHT times after just having gone through the ten commandments in chapter 5 itself.
Deuteronomy 5:32 "be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you..." 6:3 "be careful to obey that it may go well with you..." 6:12 "be careful that you do not forget the Lord..." 6:25 "be careful to obey all this law before the Lord your God..." 7:11 "be careful to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today..." 7:12 "pay attention to theses laws and be careful to follow them..." 8:1 "be careful to follow every command I am giving you today..." 8:11 "be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands..."
Get the picture? I sure did...
The word careful means to be proactive and to take reasonable care to avoid risks - thank you Bing Dictionary.
In other words, it is important to walk in God's ways, and it is important as parents to impress this on our children.
What does this look like in your house? In our house, we're going to be working on that.
Today's forget-me-not: Your commandments, Oh, Lord!
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