I used to have a gratitude journal, back when Oprah made it popular... I think it's really important for me to take that up again... Will this always be here? No... Though I cherish you, dear reader(s) as the case may be 8), some are for only me and will be elsewhere.
Yesterday:
I am thankful:
1. we got to go to the Rangers game. I got to see my oldest child smile from ear to ear for 3 hours... he loved it!!! He was so into it!!! I see my dad in both my boys in different ways, but sports and his daughters was the main thing that made my dad laugh or cry... And my oldest's is classical music, an orchestral instrument, and certain sports. 8) The younger boys enjoyed it too, though baseball has its' slow parts.
2. things did not go as planned. We were too late to walk on the field prior to the game, so we ran around the bases afterwards... Having been a Texas Rangers fan all my life (my dad and I shared watching the games on tv, as we actually seldom went together...), I was moved to tears by walking over home plate... As silly as that is, it was beautiful. And to think we wouldn't have done that if we weren't trying to keep a promise to our youngest (the older boys weren't too worried about it, but they loved it too...) as a planner, and a "distressed one when it doesn't all go as perceived", this is a beautiful lesson to remember.
3. Though it can be a bit stressful, as the boys can be brother-like, there is beauty in their interactions in learning how to be adults... I was reading the other day about how we aren't raising children. We are raising adults... and we are teaching our kids how to act like adults... It helps me to parent differently and there is a blessing in that change of perspective.
4. the family I married into 8). Having had a disfunctional family in my childhood and in part of my adult life, i have idealized the functional family... I actually think this is pretty common from what i've read... There is no such thing as perfection... I am good enough to be in this family, even though I feel imperfect and not good enough sometimes...
5. teamwork, ah the examples on a ball field, in a family, in one's body as living is just an example of how every bodily system works together... It's a beautiful things to contemplate!
That's it for today!!!! More tomorrow, or next week, or next month or next year as it usually goes!!
1 comment:
Glad you had a chance to reflect. Thinking of things that I'm grateful for is always a pick-me-up for me.
I think I've always approached child rearing in the "they're going to be adults one day." I think that's why I've always been confused when people are sad that their kids are growing older. I mean, it's completely inevitable, so I never wasted sadness on that. In fact, I look forward to my kids being adults with joy! Not because parenting is hard (and it is!), but because when my kids are adults, we can actually be friends.
In my mind, my mother is somehow stuck in her mid-forties, which is hilarious considering that's how old *I* am. However, she was in her mid-forties when I feel like I began viewing her as a friend, in addition to being my mom. I can't wait to have that kind of relationship with my kids.
So I am raising them to be people that I would love to have as a friend. Not necessarily all my silly nerdities, but someone who is kind, polite, loving, and well-read. So when I discipline them, or correct them, I try to do it in a loving way.
One of my favorite scriptures for parenting has been ever present in my mind:
Doctrine & Covenants 121: 41-44
41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood [*or in our case, parenthood*], only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—
43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy.
Post a Comment