Last night my youngest daughter of 5 years woke up at about 10pm with an ear ache. She cried and cried and cried. She did a bit of screaming too. Husband who is a doctor looked in her ear and and said it wasn't too bad so we gave her calpol and tried to be comforting. But this daughter of mine is a crier and if she is upset or hurt she really knows how to cry and this is exactly what she did. She cried and screamed for an hour and 10 minutes.
So I decided to try a little tough love and told her that although she was in pain she would have to try to stop crying because otherwise she would wake up all her siblings (one had already woken up at this point). I told her if she really couldn't stop herself from crying then she would have to go down stairs and cry in the kitchen the only place her siblings would not be able to hear her noise.
I gave her five minutes to try to calm down. She did calm down and I was able to put her back in her bed (she had been in my bed for a while).
But the quiet did not last because five minutes later she was screaming again. So came the follow through.
I brought her down to the kitchen and sat her on a chair and told her she could cry as much as she wanted but when she was finished she could find me in the living room.
Five minutes of screaming later she came in to me and was completely calm. I put her to bed and She slept till morning with only a little sob somewhere around 2am for a few moments.
So am I completely harsh? I don't think so I truly believe if I left her she would have cried and screamed until the morning.
But don't we sometimes do the same thing as adults? We have some kind of difficulty or pain in our lives and we cry and cry with moans groans complaints and mutterings. "I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God". Psalm69:3
Remember God in heaven is always on hand to comfort us and even without the tough love. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me".Psalm 23:4
Friday 8 April 2011
Wednesday 6 April 2011
World Book Day
Did anyone do anything special for world book day? As you can see we did. I've taken it upon myself to celebrate as many holidays as I can with the children because, well why not it's so much fun. I was the mum in "My Mum is Brilliant" then we had "Sleeping beauty" (notice she is sleeping), next was "Goldilocks" with the three bears then there was "Little Red Riding Hood" with the wolf (actually it's Wylie coyote) and lastly we had "The Snowman".
There was a fun impromptu show of Little Red Riding Hood starring Little Red Riding Hood as all the characters.
I encourage you all to have fun with your little people because they wont be little for long.
Psalm 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
The Jobs Of A Parent
Have you ever considered the many different job titles of a parent?
A few years ago when I was feeling overwhelmed one day I wrote down all the different job titles I had as a home schooling mother, I think I mostly wrote them down to prove to myself how hard my job was. I lost that list long ago now but I have been thinking about it recently as my teenage son and first daughter are experiencing a clash of personalities at the moment.
They love each other to bits, but they can turn on each other in an instant. This leaves me as the police, jury and then the judge some of my least favourite jobs. They come to me moaning, groaning, whining or crying with issues that need immediate attention.
After that I then need to be their counsellor and advisor to try to direct them on the right path.
As much as I get the children to do their part I still sometimes feel like a cleaner putting toys away that they have forgotten to or re-sweeping the just swept floor because it wasn't done properly.
Of course there are the daily jobs that I have also such as : cook, dentist, teacher, entertainer, personal organiser and laundry woman.
There are also the jobs that come around less often but require a delicate approach such as nurse, doctor, trainer and life coach.
When we go out whether it be the park or the shops my mind is always in gear and my eyes are always looking for anything that might be a danger or possible danger I suppose that would be a danger analysis. I'm also their bodyguard trying to keep them safe and their parole officer if they have been naughty.
I'm sure there are many more jobs that I haven't covered that you may find yourselves in if you are a parent or even if you're not a parent but are taking care of a child for a while, but while I am writing this I am also thinking of the many titles Jesus has; Brother, Friend, Saviour, Shepherd, King, Counsellor and Rock.
None of these titles does He consider to be a job, these things are just who He is.
Jesus can be all of these things to us if we just lean on Him and allow ourselves to be led by Him.
1 Sam. 2:2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
So maybe it's better not to focus on my many different job titles as a parent because parent or not we all have different rolls to play in life at home at work with friends with children and with our own parents.
Besides my children don't think about any of the different titles I may or may not have, as far as they are concerned I am just MUMMY.
A few years ago when I was feeling overwhelmed one day I wrote down all the different job titles I had as a home schooling mother, I think I mostly wrote them down to prove to myself how hard my job was. I lost that list long ago now but I have been thinking about it recently as my teenage son and first daughter are experiencing a clash of personalities at the moment.
They love each other to bits, but they can turn on each other in an instant. This leaves me as the police, jury and then the judge some of my least favourite jobs. They come to me moaning, groaning, whining or crying with issues that need immediate attention.
After that I then need to be their counsellor and advisor to try to direct them on the right path.
As much as I get the children to do their part I still sometimes feel like a cleaner putting toys away that they have forgotten to or re-sweeping the just swept floor because it wasn't done properly.
Of course there are the daily jobs that I have also such as : cook, dentist, teacher, entertainer, personal organiser and laundry woman.
There are also the jobs that come around less often but require a delicate approach such as nurse, doctor, trainer and life coach.
When we go out whether it be the park or the shops my mind is always in gear and my eyes are always looking for anything that might be a danger or possible danger I suppose that would be a danger analysis. I'm also their bodyguard trying to keep them safe and their parole officer if they have been naughty.
I'm sure there are many more jobs that I haven't covered that you may find yourselves in if you are a parent or even if you're not a parent but are taking care of a child for a while, but while I am writing this I am also thinking of the many titles Jesus has; Brother, Friend, Saviour, Shepherd, King, Counsellor and Rock.
None of these titles does He consider to be a job, these things are just who He is.
Jesus can be all of these things to us if we just lean on Him and allow ourselves to be led by Him.
1 Sam. 2:2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
So maybe it's better not to focus on my many different job titles as a parent because parent or not we all have different rolls to play in life at home at work with friends with children and with our own parents.
Besides my children don't think about any of the different titles I may or may not have, as far as they are concerned I am just MUMMY.
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