Out of the Mouths of Babes

We've been experiencing some elementary school drama around our house as of late. Drama and I don't get along under the best of circumstances, but that's another post for another day.

As my kiddos have been dealing with friend and bullying issues, I was thinking a lot about how important it is to make sure our home is a safe haven, a place of rest. The other night as we were sitting together as a family I mentioned how glad I was that at least at home we can each feel loved and safe. To which my son replied -

"Except when you're mad at us for not putting our clothes away."

Ouch.

Parenting is humbling, isn't it?

I didn't quite know what to say. Here I was, trying to create a peaceful, safe environment, and I have inadvertently been chipping away at it by my, um..., lack of patience (a nice way to say it).

I've thought a lot about this comment. In my mind my frustration with my kiddos lack of follow through is completely and totally separate, and in no way effects my love for them. But maybe I haven't communicated that as clearly to them as I need to.

Do they still need to do their chores? Yes.
Do they still need to be accountable for their actions? Yes.
Do they still need boundaries and consequences? Oh my, yes.

But I need to do a better job of taking my emotions (frustration, impatience etc.) out of it.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea here, we, as parents, don't flip out by any stretch of the imagination. We are pretty calm, quiet people. The whole experience was simply a reminder that when things get rough for my kiddos, I need to shower them with extra love and keep my impatience at a minimum.

It reminded my of one of my favorite quote by Sister Julie B. Beck -

“We owe everything to the Lord. We are so blessed to be involved in a faith based work, a work in which we can create families, support families, defend families, teach families, and prepare them for the blessings of eternal life—and love them, love them, love them.”