I have been blogging on Confessions Of A Parent for a little more than a year now. In that time I have rarely written about anything “faith-based,” as some would call it. Even though I’m a pastor in a local church, this has been intentional.
In the 11 years that we have been parents, we have learned many valuable lessons. We’ve learned to always call when we’re unsure of a publicized date on the school’s website (super awesome to show up late to our daughter’s first day of school parent breakfast!). We’ve learned how valuable early bedtimes are. We’ve learned how important a routine is for our children’s development. And most of all, we’ve learned the value of being organized in our parenting.
My 4-year old son Sam gets his feelings hurt really easy. And when I say easy, I mean easy! If you look at him the wrong way, or say something he doesn’t like, his runs into the other room and collapses in a heap of emotion. As any good parent (especially one who is a blogger) would do, I take notes, and methodically plan out a future post, while his mother takes pictures!
I walked into my kitchen early one morning last week, to the sight of dishes overflowing from our sink.
I wrote this post almost 6 years ago, long before this blog is what it is today. I came across it recently and had to share it again. As I’m only a week away from releasing my latest book (based on the principles in this post I wrote so long ago) I hope this encourages you on this cold winter day!
I’m a cautious person. I will set boundaries and make up rules even when none exist and there’s no need for any. I do so because I have this ingrained belief, at times, that something could, or is going to, go wrong. As a husband and a father I tend to use my energy to reduce as much risk as possible. However, this can create huge problems!
I love my kids. In fact, nobody can bring me to tears quicker, or make me laugh harder, than these amazing people. I’ve been blessed beyond anything I could imagine. But, good grief can they gross me out. In fact, there are times when I marvel at the level of gross they can descend to in such a short amount of time. It may be a gift!
Last year, Kristin and I attended a 2-day adoption/foster care conference on ERH (Emotional Regulatory Healing) Intensive Training in Indianapolis. The event was sponsored by The Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis and presented by Juli Alvarado from Coaching For Life, out of Denver, Colorado. The event was refreshing, insightful, and revitalizing, but not what we expected when we walked in to the first session on Saturday morning.
Admit it: you do this! And if you haven’t been doing this, there’s a twinge in your soul begging you to start. With the advent of iPhones, Androids, and all the other smartphones out there, it’s easy to document full-blown temper-tantrums and meltdowns in all their glory. It’s one of our favorite things to do!
In past posts I’ve admittedly described myself and my wife as lecturers. Boy oh boy are we! Both of us are first children, originating from fairly vocal families, so we inherently tend to lecture our children when they screw up. We’ve discovered, however, and continue to learn, that there is a huge disadvantage to this. The more we lecture, the more disengaged our children become.
