My kids mean the world to me. As any parent will tell you, I would give my life for my children.
(Son #3’s beautiful girlfriend made this picture for me with all my kiddos!)
I view my job as a parent as a limited time contract. I have about 18-23 years to teach them what I believe they will need to know for a successful life.
I started this entry as “TEN THINGS I WANT MY KIDS TO OBSERVE ME DOING.” It has grown to thirteen and here they are.
THIRTEEN THINGS I WANT MY KIDS TO OBSERVE ME DOING
Praying
I am most humble, reverent, and worshipful when I am talking to my Heavenly Father. I want my children to see me being respectful to my creator. I want them to see me giving important time every day to speaking with God.
Serving Others
My children need to see me putting someone else in front of myself or them. I want them to know that other people matter, too. We are happiest when serving others. For my 49th birthday I spent the day with my kids doing 49 Random Acts of Kindness. Best birthday EVER!
Apologizing
I want my children to see me admit I’m wrong. But most importantly I want them to see me want to fix a relationship even if I’m not wrong. To do whatever it takes to save a relationship. This is one I really need to work on.
Respecting Their Father
My children will see their father in whatever I say about him and how I treat him in front of them. I want them to see how much I respect him, how much I listen and treasure his opinion. I want them to see us as an unbreakable team. Always working together.
Fighting with Their Father
Marriage is hard. Really hard sometimes. But that’s okay. It’s hard work and we are willing to disagree, talk about it, compromise, apologize, and make up. But always working together to fix the problem.
Crying/Being Broken
I want my kids to believe that crying is not a weakness. It’s part of most processes ~ grieving, anger, sadness, brokenness. It teaches them empathy and sympathy. I don’t want my kids to be afraid to show that they have soft, tender hearts.
Laughing/Having Fun
Some of my best childhood memories are of my parents having fun, laughing together, playing games. I want those same memories for my kids.
Being Embarrassed
Most people (if not all) hate the feeling of embarrassment. It’s embarrassing!! I’ve done enough embarrassing things to know that laughing at ourselves is a great way to lighten up the mood. There are days when I say “If I didn’t laugh I’d cry!” and I’d rather laugh!!
Going to Church
This is an important one for us. My husband and I have been going to church since we were both kids. I don’t want church to be just a habit but I do want it to be an important part of my children’s lives. We are told where two or more are gathered, there God will be also. Fellowship with other believers is an important part of our growth as Christians. Learning from the wise, worshiping with other children of God, and helping those less fortunate.
Working Hard
My husband is a work horse. He is a great example of “slow and steady wins the race.” He worked for a company for thirty years, retired, and now works for another great company. When I told him I wanted to adopt our two daughters, he said, “You don’t want me to ever retire do you?” He wouldn’t know what to do if he retired. The man is a work horse!!
Relaxing
This is one of my favorites!! Our kids see us working, doing projects (which involve them sometimes), doing housework, cooking, cleaning. But I also want them to see us relaxing and having fun. We love to play sports together, vacation together, watch movies together. We just went to the beach for a short week and it rained the whole time. What did we do? We enjoyed family time ~ watching movies, playing games, reading together. It was a fun vacation.
Budgeting
We have spoken to each of our children about the importance of being smart with money. We’ve taught them how it doesn’t grow on trees so we need to be frugal. We use lots of coupons. We shop the clearance racks. We go to Walmart and Target. We love the word SALE!
Being Affectionate
My kids should see us holding hands and kissing. Whenever one of us is walking by the other, one of us will always touch the other ~ a pat on the shoulder, rub of the head.
This list could go on and on. But these are the ones that are most important to us.
When we have sent each of our kids to college, I usually have a slight panic attack thinking I haven’t taught them everything I need to teach them. I pray for another five or ten years to keep trying. I never get it!
We’ve made some good teaching moments and some bad teaching moments. We’ve rocked as parents sometimes and totally stunk as parents at times. We all do the best we can with what we have.
Each child is different. They learn lessons differently. Some believe me when I say if you touch the hot burner you’ll get burned and I have some kids who have to touch it before they believe me. I pray diligently for them!!
Parenthood is the most rewarding, most difficult job we will ever face. And I love every minute of it!!
Love y’all,
Linda
