I have started up again in our neighborhood bible study. We met for the first time a week ago Tuesday. It was really nice to get together again as I haven't seen some of these women since the Christmas festivities. We each had to think of a word to focus on for the entire year, and I had no idea what to use. To me it was like naming your child. I have way to many "motivational" words to focus on. So my first word was enjoyment. I want to enjoy every single second of life because its too short not to. But as I was cooking dinner and had Jackson screaming at me to change the TV because its not his "favorite" and Brecken hanging off my pant leg whining for whatever reason and I decided right there that enjoyment was just not going to do it for me. I need patience before I can enjoy even the simplest of tasks so I changed my word right before I walked out the door.
Someone once told me that anyone can be a parent but it takes someone special to become a mother and a father. I never really fully understood this until I became a parent and am having those very trying moments daily. I only know of having children 3 and younger, but I know that right now that my life is very demanding. As they get older I know that my job will be different. It will be so much harder to the say the right thing and teach them the right way because, lets be honest, we don't always follow the same rules we want for our children.
My friend Jennifer has a daughter who is about 14. She had a talent show at her school a few weeks back, and when she was finished singing she was able to sit down next to her mother and watch the rest of the show. After seeing several talents, a set of girls went up to sing and unfortunately they did not sing very well at all. The 14-year-old daughter turned to her mom and said "What was that?" with a disgusted tone. Now think about what you would say to your daughter or son in this situation. Would you smile and agree, or would you say the right thing? I really admire Jennifer for how she handled it. She took her daughter aside after the talent show and told her "It took a lot of courage for those girls to go out there and sing especially because one girl was much heavier than most of the girls. How would you feel if someone in the audience said the exact same thing you just said?" I know there was much more to this conversation but Jennifer did the right thing. I wonder how I would have handled it. I know I definitely have told Jackson not to do something because it would make him sad if it happened to him. But I also can see myself saying "Yeah...what was that???!!" and having a funny moment with my son. This is just one small story that really got to me because I don't always do the right thing now, and I know the older you get the more important lessons are. I have noticed things about myself that I must change if I want to challenge and teach my own children what is right from wrong. I have quite the task ahead of me.
They are having so much fun together. Always.
I love this picture. Brecken is laying down the law and Jack is being sweet.
Last night when Brecken finished his bottle Jackson say "Good Job Brecki! I Love you." and then he proceeded to give him a kiss. Brecken didn't even notice. :)
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