Who They Are

I feel like God has really been talking to me about accepting my kids for who they are right now.

We are none of us perfect. 

Yesterday I spent all day fighting the baby. I just wanted him to sleep on his own! I swaddled him, I rocked him, I put him down, he woke back up. Over and over and over again. It was hard, he was relentless! 

By the end of the day I was full of frayed nerves and frustration. Everything I had tried to do was half done because it was interrupted by the waking, upset baby. He just wanted to be with mama. Mama just wanted to get the dishes done (hard to do while baby wearing). 

Do you have days like this? Looking back, I feel so foolish. Sure, I’ve had babies that I could lay down while awake and they would fall asleep on their own, but this baby is not one of those babies. Did I think fighting him on it was going to change his nature? 

We’ve recently noticed that our five-year-old has some nervous ticks. I’m pretty sure he has always had them, but I think the change of adding a new person to the household has brought them to the surface. 

The ticks have to do with sound and movement, and the repetition of them can wear on your nerves after a while. Especially if you are trying to have him concentrate on something for school! He does have a limited amount of control over them (we asked him to stop one sound, he was able to after about a week of working on it but he just replaced it with another sound).  The behavior has become pretty automatic. Hopefully it will mellow out some after a while, we will see. Whether it does or not, he is still my precious son and I am so thankful to have him!

He fell asleep beside me this afternoon. No continuous noises when he is sleeping, just peaceful breathing.

Today I had a headache, so I pretty much just nursed and cuddled the baby. Even though my head was killing me, it was a much better day than yesterday. There was no fighting the baby. There was no stress. I was right there for him the way he needed me. And then this evening I had my hubby strap him onto my back in the Baby Bijorn and I was able to get most of the dishes done!

I think at this point in my life, I will abandon the dream of ever being totally caught up with the dishes. 

I’m not saying we can’t train our children to help them change (I will not still be holding this baby every time he sleeps three years from now, I promise!), but we do have to be patient with them and realize that it takes time for them to adapt. It’s a process. Sometimes a veeeery slow process.

In the meantime, we have to love them for who they are right now. Life is full of seasons, we will be into the next season before we know it and then we will be fondly remembering and missing parts of this season. Take joy in the part of the journey that you are in right now.

Lots of Love,

Lee