Teachable Moments


Among most people who are raising smaller humans you can hear a mantra, "I'm just tired..."


And I'm not sure that it goes away - encouraging, I know.  When you have an infant you are exhausted because of loss of sleep. And the days can be long. And as they grow older you get more sleep - so to speak. But the days can still be long. And see, I'm thinking there is a culprit at the head of the game of tiredness...the things I find where I am loosing my patience the most...

Teachable moments...they draw their weapons and yell "I'll be your huckleberry"...(movie reference) every single time.

The amount of opportunities for me to have a teachable moment with my children is exasperating. It’s not just once a day - more like 20 times a day...per child.

"Hmmm, I haven't had to teach or model or reinforce anything today." said nary a parent.

And that's not to say that I haven't had awesome days filled with wonderful memories of raising my children. However, I find that once I think they have a handle on one concept, it either needs to be revisited, or a new one taught.

And this of course starts early - probably right after you've got them sleeping "through the night" which is all so relative (insert eye roll).

But what I'm referring to are the moments where I have the opportunity to lead and instruct with patience...joy...goodness...self-control...kindness...love...peace...meekness...gentleness. Sometimes I lead with these and other times...not so much.

Just to mention a few of these teachable moments:

potty training...cleaning up after yourself...growing intentional relationships...how to greet someone...respecting others in all aspects...how to speak to an adult...chores...cooking...fitness...sports...how violence isn't ok...reading...patience...time management...gardening...mindfulness of recycling...delayed gratification...proper nutrition...talking to God...persistence...laundry separation...responsibility...stranger danger...

and that's just some of the moments.

No wonder we are all exhausted. Being intentional takes slower moments, ample loads of all the characteristics mentioned above and knowing what is important to you.

I'm here to encourage you that you ARE running the race and your pace is spot on. Maybe you aren't intentional every moment (because I know I'm not), but the intentional outweigh the "not so much."

Parenting isn't all roses, but there is a beautiful garden to cultivate in their hearts. Pull the weeds of chaos and despair and see the beauty and variety in each different blossom. Get ya some sunshine and revel in your work...God's good work...in your children.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pumpkin Muffins

Image
My nephew joined me one afternoon and I thought, “I bet he’d like muffins.” I wanted to use pumpkin because Tia the season, but I wanted to see if I could lessen the amount of granulated sugar and pack with some protein. So I experimented! Below is the reaping of the experiment. Ingredients:  makes more than 24 regular sized muffins (half the amounts if you’d rather less) 1/2 cup white flour 1/2 cup protein powder (I used chocolate) 2 cups whole wheat flour 2 tsp. Baking soda 3 tsp. Ground cinnamon 3 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice  1/2 tsp. Ground ginger 1/2 tsp salt 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed 1/2 cup brown sugar  1 cup oil (whatever cooking oil you like) 1 can pumpkin purée  1/2 cup milk (any milk and possibly might need more) 1&1/2 cups pecans, chopped (or walnuts) 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips Recipe: Preheat oven to 425 degrees ferenhiet and either spray your muffin tin or Place muffin liners.  In a large bowl, whisk: flour, protein powder, spices, salt and baking soda. Se
Read more

In the midst of it all

Image
Parenting lately has been a little rough.  I have a toddler, who is cuddly, independent, and stubborn, a daughter who can be helpful, and dramatic when she is hangry and tired, and a Kindergartner who is smart, knows it all, impulsive, and thoughtful.  These personalities make for interesting days, and that's not even mentioning my personality traits (which some would say are a little on the "feeling" side).  And in the midst of it all... God is there... he is watching me he is protecting me he is wooing me he is teaching me he is showing me whom to love he is using me he is loving my children he is saving me and thank goodness for all of those things.  With these things he is molding me and my children.  And there is so much comfort knowing that he sees me even at my worst. he is watching me to see how much mercy and grace I will give my children when they spill their "whatever" for the 4th time before 9 am.  He is also watching me to know how mu
Read more

At the Ready

Image
Sometimes there is nothing I can say or do to help you. Vastly different from the prelude of the season of parenting is where we remain now. Before you’d simply run to me with open arms when you were hurt, weren’t sure of the safety around you or uneasy of emotions that billowed inside. Now I stand here, ready to catch you as you fall, but it seems to me you feel less inclined to share. What stands in your way, baby girl? What keeps you from falling?  And then, just as the wind changes, with my arms outstretched and tired from the endurance of patience, you land ever so softly. As you get older, you have all the words, but for some reason your silence is the loudest. So for now, in this season, I will stand waiting, even annoyingly nudging you, because this is my calling. My roots are grounded deep so that I can sustain the impact. Saddened is my helping heart not be able to fix everything and make it all better, but blessed is my heart to hold the honor of being the constant s
Read more