Why We Do What We Do

     So, this has been a tough week around here.  We started back to school, and everything was going fairly well.  Monday.  By Tuesday I was already ready for it to be Friday, which is never a good sign!

     Do you ever have those moments as a parent where you envy those people who let their kids do whatever they want, simply because it's easier?  Why go through all the trouble of making them clean their rooms, or do their school work, or be nice?  Just put in a movie, and leave them alone.

     Raising kids is hard.  Really hard.  Actually, raising kids isn't that hard, I guess.  Training them them is.  There is a difference.  Bringing up kids "in the nuture and admonition of the Lord" is hard work.  Because it can't be all "nurture" and no "admonition", which would be easier on the parent.  And it can't be all "admonition" with no "nuture" either, because that leads to bitterness in the heart of the child.  Finding the balance is part of the challenge.

     Yesterday was definitely an "admonition" day.  Both the boys had a terrible day at school, and Stitch is not feeling well, which makes him extra "attitudinal."  Plus, we have been dealing with an attitude problem in our eldest for the last couple of weeks.  Think a thirteen year-old trapped in a seven year-old's body...  So, "Mean" Mommy had to make an appearance last night.  But afterwards, I sat down with both the boys and we talked about how much they had been given by God, and that they have a responsibility to follow His commands just like Mom and Dad do.  Then we all prayed together, and the rest of the evening went better.  I'm hoping today will be a "nuture" kind of day.  It's Friday, a majority of the work is done for the week, and I think it's going to be pizza and fun time tonight.

     So, why do we do all this?  Well, obviously, if we are Christians, our first responsibility is to raise up Godly families.  Also, we don't want to have a house full of juvenile delinquents running around.  You know--the family everyone thinks of as THAT family with THOSE kids!  But mostly, we do it for them.  I mean, how else are they going to learn to be God-fearing, responsible, adult citizens who are not solely focused on themselves?  (Which, if you look around, is becoming quite an epidemic in our nation--but that's a whole other post!)  If we don't take the time to train in unselfishness, thoughtfulness, or obedience, then guess who will?  No one.  And there are plenty of people out there who will be glad to teach them all kinds of other things.

    I guess I wrote this post as a reminder to myself---even after the bad days, don't give up!  Remember why we do what we do! :)

Spring Break=Time to Blog!

     It's officially spring break here, and I couldn't be more excited!  Not because we have big plans for a beach trip, or Disney world like a couple of years ago.  Mostly because we don't actually have anything planned...a rare occasion around here lately!  So, I thought I'd take a few minutes to catch up on life around here! 

     I spent today--the first day of spring break-- doing laundry and going through the boys' clothes and switching seasons and sizes.  Yep, that's my glamorous life folks... :)  Does any one else get nostalgic when they pull the little clothes out of the closet?  "I remember when we first got those jammies...First-Born loved them!"  "That was Middle Biscuit's favorite t-shirt last summer."  That is one thing I enjoy about the job...and the boys like finally getting to wear certain longed-for items of clothing from their big brothers! 

     We had a catastrophe yesterday.  We had just finished lunch at Mimi and Pa's (our Sunday afternoon tradition), when we heard a blood-curdling scream from Stitch.  It seemed to go on forever!  Of course, we all dash in there (Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Pa, and Grandma & Grandpa, who are back for a visit) to see Stitch holding out his hand.  Upon further inspection, we see that he has had his hand shut in the bathroom door, and when he instinctively jerked it out, he managed to rip his entire pinky nail off.  Having never had this happen to me, I can only imagine the pain.  I mean, they do use this technique as torture, so it can't be a very pleasant experience.  There's not much to really do for it, so he has it wrapped in Neosporin and a bandage now.  It's his right hand, so he is now learning to do things with his left...I wonder if it will turn him into a lefty?  He is definitely the one who stuff happens to in this family.  Earlier this week he had managed to fall off the bed he was jumping on, climb on a box next to the piano and hit his bottom lip,  get some kind of bug-bite on his face, not to mention all the scuffles he gets into with his brothers.  If he makes it to adulthood, it will be a miracle! 

     We want to get our garden put in over spring break as well.  It's not going to be very big...last year we put too many plants in too small of an area.  We got a few things out of it, but we hope to do better this year.  We want the boys to learn how to do these things as they are getting older.  Think redirecting some of that excess energy.  Besides, food tastes better when you have worked hard for it, right?

       Speaking of re-directed energy, Pack 247's pine car derby was a success this year.  We had a great turn-out, and First-Born's car won "Most Realistic" for the second year in a row.  This probably has nothing to do with the fact that he insists every year on making his car look "like a real race car."  He asked me why he won the same award this year as he did last year...*sigh. 

     Well, that about wraps up this spring break post!  Hope you are all enjoying your spring-time fun with your families!  :)