"And Then I Had Kids" - Chapter 1 - The Hassled Mother

Wow, I think that this book was good timing for me. I hope that it is for all of you, as well! Isn't it funny how God works sometimes? My biggest problem at the moment is feeling a huge need to get to the next chapter. Now that she has helped put some of my "endurance test" feelings into words, I am feeling a little frustrated and want to get on to the next chapter.

I think that one thing that stuck out to me was what she wrote in the "low self-image" section about doing something that lasts more than just a couple of days. I turned this one into advice and trimmed the bushes around the house one afternoon. It started raining, but I didn't care! I just kept right on trimming away. I think my mom thought I had lost my mind...but now, if I get frustrated because toys just can't seem to get back in their homes and the dishes only stay clean for a maximum of 2-3 hours, I can walk outside and see my nicely trimmed bushes! I highly recommend it to anyone who shares this frustration!

Not enough time with my husband - I can sure relate to that one! I must say that this has gotten much better for Zach and I since we have moved. I can only count a handful of days that he has not made it home for lunch. They are sometimes rushed lunches, but it at least gives us an opportunity to find out how the other's day is going and sneak in a hug and kiss in the middle of a hectic day. Being near my parents is also a huge blessing because we had never gotten to take date nights before. We had our first date since I can remember a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful. We honestly had not realized how loud our household is and how little we get to talk while the kids are with us until we closed the car doors on the way to the restaurant and we could actually hear each other speak!

An atmosphere of tension - I am afraid that I might have one of those in my house right now. At this point in my life I almost have to make myself stop rushing around, give the kids a little bit of slack and just relax and have fun with them. Those of you who know me, know that I am not the best housekeeper, but it still bugs me to have a messy house. It makes me very tense to have the house in disarray, but I basically have no choice at this time in my life. I am working on giving that over to God so that hopefully ooze his peace instead of my tension. This morning I was all over the kids for any little thing that they did, but I wasn't frustrated with them, it was because the house is a mess and I am exhausted. I felt like I was being pulled into 5 directions and over reacted with the kids. I had to appologize to them and just prayed for that tension to be taken away. The morning is behind us and this afternoon is a new time. Praise God for his mercy!

An exciting Christian home - that is one of my goals. I love it when the boys ask us faith questions - they are so cute and it lets us know that we are on the right path. We are struggling with some prayer challenges, though. Right now we are trying to find a balance in our reaction to the kids when they goof off during prayer. We want them to be respectful and not act silly in an effort to make each other laugh, but we don't want to be legalistic and make prayer a negative time. We want them to know real conversation with Father as they grow older. They are still only 4 and 2 (plus E is not quite 4 months), so right now we are simply talking to them about being respectful and giving God our attention when we pray. Any other ideas?

Please give any feedback that you have in "comments". I may have to play with this format a little and see what works best for us in an effort to allow us to have meaningful discussion.



Sometimes I think that it is hard to remember that gratification in raising our children for Christ may seem very delayed, but the payoff will be huge when we see our children grown into men and women fulfilling a wonderful plan that only the Father knows about right now.