A Mother's Weapons.
My lovely girls,
I've been feeling like a pretty lame mother lately. It comes from being busy and feeling pulled in too many directions. I've been short tempered and tired. Sorry 'bout that. So I've been praying and praying. Praying for balance. Praying for patience. Seems like the more I pray for patience the ornerier you girls get. Funny how that works.
But today is a new day. And I'm determined to get back on the good side of mothering. So this morning I broke out the paint.
That's right. The real paint. Not the lame old dot dot paints I'm always making you do. (They are actually quite cool, but you want real paint, brushes...the works). And you were so happy. And you've been sitting at the kitchen table for almost an hour. Painting. And getting along. (I dare not even type such word, lest I jinx myself.)
Anyway the joys of painting got me thinking about some of my other good mom moments or more specifically the tools I use to preserve my sanity and help me be a mom worth being around. I thought you too might benefit from this information one day, so here ya go:
Butcher paper. This is, arguably, the most important tool in my arsenal. I can't even count how many rolls of butcher paper I've gone through in your lives. It's good for everything. I can get out a roll of butcher paper and the next thing I know, my brain has come up with a project to keep you busy for at least an hour. Butcher paper and my brain have a very creative and symbiotic relationship.
We've painted. We've made giant characters. I've laid your down on the paper and traced you and let you decorate your life size portraits. I've drawn you giant roads and asked you to draw the buildings, parks, trees, churches, etc to make the map. We taped that paper to the table (or the floor) and drawn murals. We've practiced writing letters and numbers. I've given you old magazines and catalogs and had you cut out pictures and glue them to giant sheets of paper. We've done all sorts of themes - food, colors, letters of the alphabet, girls, boys, clothes. Yes, butcher paper is our friend.
iPod. You know how they say music soothes the savage beast? Well it works pretty well on you too. Turn on a little music and chores get done faster, the falling night seems less scary, you get sleepier (or peppier, or more reverent - depending on my song selection.) Yes, my iPod or a CD player of your own - if you are old enough not to stick your finger inside on the mechanism, not naming any names, Brynn - can do wonders for your cooperative natures.
White Board. Here's the thing. Homework sucks. I get it. After a long day of school, the last thing you want to do is come home and do more school. You're right. Lame. But still homework, and quite a few other stupid things actually, are just a part of life.
A few years ago, entrenched in a great war over homework with Grace, I came up with this brilliant idea to do spelling practice on a white board. Really, I'm not overstating when I say brilliant. I'd even go so far as to say divinely inspired. Surely the Lord was looking out for both of us because I was moments away from wringing your sweet little neck, Grace. And then you would have been dead and I would have been in prison - bad news all around. But the white board saved us both. It's so much more fun to practice spelling, math problems, etc on a white board. Fun colored markers. Cleaning it off with the rag. Good times. Good homework times.
Timer. The other day I realized that I don't set the timer very much anymore. I used to set it for everything. If I told you that you were going to bed in 5 minutes and then, in 5 minutes, said ok time to go to bed - DRAMA. But if the timer went off in 5 mins, then you marched right off to bed, nary an argument. I'm not sure why the digital master is so much more acceptable than your own mother, but who cares. After I figured this trick out, I was setting the timer for everything. Now that you are both a little more grown up, I don't do this as much anymore, but from 2-4 years old, the timer saved my bacon on many occasions.
Prayer. I don't use this nearly as often as I should. I'm trying to change that. I try to make it through the tough moments on my own, but more and more I'm finding that my mortal limitations and your stubborn little personalities are a challenging combination that I can only combat with prayer. My best ideas, my best work with you, my best moments have all been inspired ones. More and more I'm seeing how critical it is for me to pray for you, about you, with you. I don't always know what's going on with you. What's the trouble that's getting you up every night at 3:30 am? Bringing you home from school in tears? Causing your two week hunger strike? Giving you that rash under your right eye? Making you pinch your sister every time I turn my back? You get the idea. I'm just one little mommy and most of the time, I have no idea what's up with you. But the Lord knows you, so I'm trying to be more prayerful, more thoughtful, more reliant on the Spirit and less reliant on myself. It's helping - when I do it. I'm a work in progress too, remember.
By the time you need these ideas, I'll seem really patient and perfect. HAHAHAHA. And I'll fall out of my chair laughing. Then I'll get up and think how much falling out of your chair hurts when you are old-ish and I'll hug you tight and tell you what a long road it's been. You'll find yourself strangely encouraged by my tales of woe. Then you'll get out a roll of butcher paper and get an entire hour of cooperative behavior out of your children. You're welcome.
I've been feeling like a pretty lame mother lately. It comes from being busy and feeling pulled in too many directions. I've been short tempered and tired. Sorry 'bout that. So I've been praying and praying. Praying for balance. Praying for patience. Seems like the more I pray for patience the ornerier you girls get. Funny how that works.
But today is a new day. And I'm determined to get back on the good side of mothering. So this morning I broke out the paint.
That's right. The real paint. Not the lame old dot dot paints I'm always making you do. (They are actually quite cool, but you want real paint, brushes...the works). And you were so happy. And you've been sitting at the kitchen table for almost an hour. Painting. And getting along. (I dare not even type such word, lest I jinx myself.)
Anyway the joys of painting got me thinking about some of my other good mom moments or more specifically the tools I use to preserve my sanity and help me be a mom worth being around. I thought you too might benefit from this information one day, so here ya go:
Butcher paper. This is, arguably, the most important tool in my arsenal. I can't even count how many rolls of butcher paper I've gone through in your lives. It's good for everything. I can get out a roll of butcher paper and the next thing I know, my brain has come up with a project to keep you busy for at least an hour. Butcher paper and my brain have a very creative and symbiotic relationship.
We've painted. We've made giant characters. I've laid your down on the paper and traced you and let you decorate your life size portraits. I've drawn you giant roads and asked you to draw the buildings, parks, trees, churches, etc to make the map. We taped that paper to the table (or the floor) and drawn murals. We've practiced writing letters and numbers. I've given you old magazines and catalogs and had you cut out pictures and glue them to giant sheets of paper. We've done all sorts of themes - food, colors, letters of the alphabet, girls, boys, clothes. Yes, butcher paper is our friend.
iPod. You know how they say music soothes the savage beast? Well it works pretty well on you too. Turn on a little music and chores get done faster, the falling night seems less scary, you get sleepier (or peppier, or more reverent - depending on my song selection.) Yes, my iPod or a CD player of your own - if you are old enough not to stick your finger inside on the mechanism, not naming any names, Brynn - can do wonders for your cooperative natures.
White Board. Here's the thing. Homework sucks. I get it. After a long day of school, the last thing you want to do is come home and do more school. You're right. Lame. But still homework, and quite a few other stupid things actually, are just a part of life.
A few years ago, entrenched in a great war over homework with Grace, I came up with this brilliant idea to do spelling practice on a white board. Really, I'm not overstating when I say brilliant. I'd even go so far as to say divinely inspired. Surely the Lord was looking out for both of us because I was moments away from wringing your sweet little neck, Grace. And then you would have been dead and I would have been in prison - bad news all around. But the white board saved us both. It's so much more fun to practice spelling, math problems, etc on a white board. Fun colored markers. Cleaning it off with the rag. Good times. Good homework times.
Timer. The other day I realized that I don't set the timer very much anymore. I used to set it for everything. If I told you that you were going to bed in 5 minutes and then, in 5 minutes, said ok time to go to bed - DRAMA. But if the timer went off in 5 mins, then you marched right off to bed, nary an argument. I'm not sure why the digital master is so much more acceptable than your own mother, but who cares. After I figured this trick out, I was setting the timer for everything. Now that you are both a little more grown up, I don't do this as much anymore, but from 2-4 years old, the timer saved my bacon on many occasions.
Prayer. I don't use this nearly as often as I should. I'm trying to change that. I try to make it through the tough moments on my own, but more and more I'm finding that my mortal limitations and your stubborn little personalities are a challenging combination that I can only combat with prayer. My best ideas, my best work with you, my best moments have all been inspired ones. More and more I'm seeing how critical it is for me to pray for you, about you, with you. I don't always know what's going on with you. What's the trouble that's getting you up every night at 3:30 am? Bringing you home from school in tears? Causing your two week hunger strike? Giving you that rash under your right eye? Making you pinch your sister every time I turn my back? You get the idea. I'm just one little mommy and most of the time, I have no idea what's up with you. But the Lord knows you, so I'm trying to be more prayerful, more thoughtful, more reliant on the Spirit and less reliant on myself. It's helping - when I do it. I'm a work in progress too, remember.
By the time you need these ideas, I'll seem really patient and perfect. HAHAHAHA. And I'll fall out of my chair laughing. Then I'll get up and think how much falling out of your chair hurts when you are old-ish and I'll hug you tight and tell you what a long road it's been. You'll find yourself strangely encouraged by my tales of woe. Then you'll get out a roll of butcher paper and get an entire hour of cooperative behavior out of your children. You're welcome.
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