Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Patience
I am trying to teach my children lessons I have trouble learning myself, the main one PATIENCE! When I want my children to do something and they don't do it right away I sometime get frustrated and yet when they would like me to do something and repetitively ask I tell them they have to be patient! But can I truly ask that of them when I am a poor example? Truly I believe they have more patience then I do. They DEFINITELY learn it from DH! I don't know anyone who is more patient then him.

My children are WONDERFUL and they are PATIENT, they are very UNDERSTANDING and I LOVE them SO much!!! (Trying not to short circuit my keyboard with my tears.)
Same topic, but I've been emotionally sidetracked, please bear with me.


As some of you may know, I have 7 children and each time I have another baby it takes time away from the older one(s) and yet they still are loving, caring and considerate of one another, even if they do fight half of the day, but they are brothers and sister, it's gonna happen. Although I understand this, I cannot relate.

I'm the youngest of 3, my brother is 9 years older than me and my sister is 8 years older, plus they moved to my dad's when they were about 13 and 14. So basically I was an only child, never had to worry about waiting to spend time with my mother, (when she wasn't working) I had her all to myself.

Are my children being impatient, or striving to be loved by me. Maybe they feel that time has been taken from them and they are trying to get it back in any way or form, even if that means coming and asking me the same question over again.

I'm not talking about the obvious impatient questions like, "Can I play GameCube now? Is dinner ready.....is it ready now? I'm talking about when they keep asking me if I'm ready to come outside when I'm in the middle of doing dishes, or when they want to show me something while I'm putting the baby to sleep.

Please pray for me to have more patience, so that I can be an example for my children. After all, our Heavenly Father is patient with me, and LOVE is PATIENT!

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3 Comments:

Blogger ... said...

wow! i didn't know you had 7 children. you are a busy mom. some of what you wrote about sounds like you may be dealing more with the busyness of being a mom.

you also sound like a wonderful and caring mom, and i believe your children will learn not only from your busyness, but your love and patience.

your awareness to the time (or lack of) spent with your kids will help you to know when and where you need to spend your time. don't beat yourself up - just be the best mom that YOU can be. and, of course, rely on God. as your verse says... he will direct you paths (notice the plural of paths).

Blogger MorningSong said...

I have felt that way too! I tell my kids 'I'll be there in a minute' but scold them for the same. One parenting class I attended soothed my guilt a bit. As parents, we have the right to tell our kids to wait but as a child our kids should obey us. Now I feel they do mimic what they see, so I do know they tell me wait b/c I model it. I decided that when they start asking me to wait too much, in an unreasonable way, I need to stop and see if I am delaying them TOO MUCH.

I agree with Diana - this is normal Mom stuff! Just take the nudges you receive from your kids, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and make adjustments moment by moment. Do not bear the guilt! You are not a bad Mom!! You are normal and you are clearly pulled 7 different ways (at least).

I would also suggest trying to make time for one on one when you can. I try to take my daughter while husband takes our son. Easier for us b/c it is only 2.

We know a family of 7 and the dad takes each child to breakfast alone and mom has dates with sons and girl time with daughters one on one. They schedule it into the week. Everyone knows when they have Mom or Dad ALL TO THEMSELVES!!! They say it really made their kids feel special! By the way - the dates/breakfast were not always costly. They were tight (due to having 7 kids) but did find a way to do SOMETHING one on one with each child. Maybe that would relieve you of some of the heaviness you feel. Just to know you've had time with each of them.

I will be praying for you! God will always lead you! We all fail to hit the mark - we are human!

Blogger Lori said...

What a wonderful post on patience.

I know patience is something I have to work on everyday.
So very true it is hard to teach your kids patience when it is something that you (I) struggle with.

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