So I have been doing a lot of praying here lately. When I say, a lot, I mean, A LOT! Before I became a mom life was far different as it is for me now, of course. I thought I had this whole parenting thing figured out. I spent a lot of time babysitting for families since I was 13. I was a full time nanny for a 6 month old, 10 month old, 2 year old twin girls, and a four year old boy all at the same time when I was 18-19. I have spent a lot of time being around kids and for what it's worth, getting a descent amount of experience being a part-time parent. I watched one of the kids walk for the first time, even before his parents did. I taught him sign language because I was tired of hearing the whining. I put them down for naps, read them books, bathed them, sang to them, played hide and go seek with them, kissed their boo-boo's, fed them, took them to the park and the pool. It was a very exhausting job but my most favorite job of all! I must admit, I was a good babysitter. People trusted me with their little ones. I don't know why, but I am glad they did and it made me feel good to know that parents liked me, even better, the kids loved me! Now that I am a parent, that changes my whole perspective on what being a parent is all about. I've been humbled since having Jake. I don't have this parenting thing all figured out!
I am an observer. I like to watch people and I've had a lot of time watching my friends parent their children. (You know you have done the same thing so I am not afraid to admit it). I may have raised an eyebrow a few times when a kid throws a fit because they refuse to listen, but you will be doing the same thing when my kids throws a fit and I don't know what to do about it! I now realize how imperfect we all are as parents, as well as our kids. I have been humbled, realizing that all of us parents make mistakes. We all have imperfections in our parenting techniques. We probably all start out in our pre-parent stage thinking we know exactly what we want out of our kids, what rules we will have in the home, how we will discipline, what behavior we will never put up with, etc. Boy was I incredible wrong! How ignorant and arrogant I was!
So now I am praying for God's wisdom in parenting. How does God parent us and want us to parent our little ones. I am being challenged in my journey as a first time mom already. I feel sorry for Jake since he is the first born and I will make plenty of mistakes on him. I hope he will forgive me when I mess up. It won't be too much longer when Jake will be pushing the limits and testing his mommy and daddy's will. Hopefully he will be the one bending his will to us and not the other way around. Will I ever have this figured out? Wait, don't tell me, cause I am afraid I won't like the answer.
This is completely off subject but we have four rabbits that live behind our house and I have been watching them run back and forth in the back yard carrying dried grass in their mouths to our back porch. They must be making a nice warm bed for an expected liter coming soon. Bummer! More rabbits to deal with. Anyone want to cute little bunny for a pet? Or maybe I could wait until there are enough of them and make a fur coat out of them! Or, I could start a rabbit farm and make rabbit stew! So many possibilities.
I feel like I could have written this post myself :) (Not that I was ever a nanny, or even a very good babysitter...) but I definitely always knew what kind of parent I was going to be and how my kids would behave. Actually having one certainly changes your perspective! Jake is lucky to have you as a mommy because you ARE thinking about these things and allowing yourself to be humbled and changed. And that is a much healthier place to be than stubborn, set in your ways and pretending you have all the answers. KWIM?
ReplyDeleteHey Mel, I gave you a blog award you should stop by my blog and get it!!!
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