Last week was a good week. It didn't so much start off that way, but sometimes it takes rough beginnings to get things in check. I'm okay with that.
Last Sunday, I was watching Kendall through the window in her class at church (we have the kind where the parents can see in, but the kids can't see out) and I saw Kendall treating one of her friends in an unkind manner. The teacher in the class came over and corrected her, and things were fine...until the teacher turned away. Almost immediately, Kendall started being ugly again. It really upset me. I understand that three year olds aren't always nice to their friends, but I was more upset about the fact that Kendall disregarded what the adult told her to do. Anyway, I went in to talk with Kendall for a minute, only to have the teacher tell me, "I've been seeing this kind of behavior more and more from her lately." Talk about breaking a mama's heart! It's one thing to see your own child's sin, but when another adult sees it, it can be so gut-wrenching! I am sure it's the first of many, many moments we will deal with as we parent.
While there are plenty of factors playing into Kendall's misbehavior (that we are seeing at home, too!), we are not the kind of parents who just excuse it. Some things certainly call for more grace to be extended to her (which I will be the first to admit that Evan offers this much more quickly than I...my expectations tend to be high) but many things just need to be disciplined. Evan and I have discussed at length Kendall's issues in the last few days, and have done the best thing we know to do--pray about it and ask for wisdom and help in our parenting. It's amazing how quickly parenting can drive you to your knees.
Sooo...saying all that...last week was a good week. We had a very successful grocery store trip on Monday (where Kendall pushed the little kid basket through Kroger) and a fun play date on Tuesday. Kendall dressed up as a princess more times than I can count, and even put on make-up one day. We attended story hour at the library on Wednesday and then visited a friend in the hospital afterwards. Thursday and Friday became snow days--we watched a movie rented from the library, made snow cream, played outside in the snow (for all of about 15 minutes) and made snow-cream. The temperature was less than 20 degrees, so I ended up putting the leftover snow-cream snow in a dishpan and giving Kendall kitchen utensils to play. I promise, she was occupied and having a blast for a good hour!
On Friday night, Evan and I went to Shogun with a group of friends--a much-needed adult night out. Shogun holds a special place in our hearts as it was where we had dinner on our first official date. (It's also a great place for a group date!) Evan was off work on Saturday, so the three of us enjoyed a morning out together. We took Kendall back to the library (which we are obviously SO loving this winter!) for a pajama party. Kendall really enjoyed having having her daddy with her to make hot chocolate, help with her "Old Man Winter" craft, and show him the library castle.
Last Sunday, I was watching Kendall through the window in her class at church (we have the kind where the parents can see in, but the kids can't see out) and I saw Kendall treating one of her friends in an unkind manner. The teacher in the class came over and corrected her, and things were fine...until the teacher turned away. Almost immediately, Kendall started being ugly again. It really upset me. I understand that three year olds aren't always nice to their friends, but I was more upset about the fact that Kendall disregarded what the adult told her to do. Anyway, I went in to talk with Kendall for a minute, only to have the teacher tell me, "I've been seeing this kind of behavior more and more from her lately." Talk about breaking a mama's heart! It's one thing to see your own child's sin, but when another adult sees it, it can be so gut-wrenching! I am sure it's the first of many, many moments we will deal with as we parent.
While there are plenty of factors playing into Kendall's misbehavior (that we are seeing at home, too!), we are not the kind of parents who just excuse it. Some things certainly call for more grace to be extended to her (which I will be the first to admit that Evan offers this much more quickly than I...my expectations tend to be high) but many things just need to be disciplined. Evan and I have discussed at length Kendall's issues in the last few days, and have done the best thing we know to do--pray about it and ask for wisdom and help in our parenting. It's amazing how quickly parenting can drive you to your knees.
Sooo...saying all that...last week was a good week. We had a very successful grocery store trip on Monday (where Kendall pushed the little kid basket through Kroger) and a fun play date on Tuesday. Kendall dressed up as a princess more times than I can count, and even put on make-up one day. We attended story hour at the library on Wednesday and then visited a friend in the hospital afterwards. Thursday and Friday became snow days--we watched a movie rented from the library, made snow cream, played outside in the snow (for all of about 15 minutes) and made snow-cream. The temperature was less than 20 degrees, so I ended up putting the leftover snow-cream snow in a dishpan and giving Kendall kitchen utensils to play. I promise, she was occupied and having a blast for a good hour!
On Friday night, Evan and I went to Shogun with a group of friends--a much-needed adult night out. Shogun holds a special place in our hearts as it was where we had dinner on our first official date. (It's also a great place for a group date!) Evan was off work on Saturday, so the three of us enjoyed a morning out together. We took Kendall back to the library (which we are obviously SO loving this winter!) for a pajama party. Kendall really enjoyed having having her daddy with her to make hot chocolate, help with her "Old Man Winter" craft, and show him the library castle.
So, here we are, back to Monday. I'm really not sure what this week has in store, although I will be the first to admit today's Target and grocery store trip wasn't as successful as last week. We actually ended up having to put the "little kid basket" back, after about 1/4 of our trip. Absolutely frustrating, but I guess it's just part of parenting. I'm just thankful we didn't have to leave the cart of groceries!
Looking forward to another great week. So thankful that God's mercies are new everyday! How I need it moment by moment!
2 comments:
I totally remember the first time I watched my child hurt another child on purpose. I was so shocked..I couldn't believe my perfect child could ever hurt another person! He told another little boy he was too fat to set in a small chair, the part that shocked me was when he noticed that the boy was embarrased he said it louder to make sure everyone heard. He even turned to his teacher and said. Tell him he's too fat to set in the little chair!
Hello, this comment is a little random but I just wanted to say that although I'm just a 17 year old girl, I think the way you write as a mother is really beautiful and sincere. Your blog is heartwarming and I really aspire to be something like this when I'm at the appropriate age. Well, sorry for the random-ness but I just really wanted to say that& I'm glad I got to :)
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