Abby is the throws of two year old tantrums. Molly is in the giving-up-her-nap stage of life. Emily is growing and asserting more independence. And Noah...
Well, Noah is the toughest of all of my kids right now.
I'm not sure if its his age or just his overall personality, but he has a special brand of difficulty.
I try to adjust my parenting to his specific needs, but if I'm being completely honest, I'm sure he suffers from "first child over-parenting". What I mean is that there is probably some validity to him feeling that he has the highest expectations, is disciplined the hardest, and is in trouble the most often.
On the other hand though, he is constantly pushing buttons; arguing with absolutely everything and using "that tone" of sass that makes feel like I'm continuously in "instruction" and "character formation" mode with him. Often, I feel so exhausted and emotionally drained from my interactions with him that I fail to remember how deep down, he is truly such a sweet spirited boy.
I remembered that today.
After school he came home and made a picture for me. It was hanging on the refrigerator:
Notice that postscript that he added at the end of his "gender predictions"... it is his way of trying to make me feel better. He knows that I felt sad that I wasn't able to give him a brother. It took him a few weeks to process through it all (that is also a huge part of his personality), but I know that this is his heart's way of trying to make me feel happy and let me know that he's okay.
It made me smile so big.
Parenting is so difficult. It's nearly impossible to balance the moments of frustration with the moments of pride with the moments of contentment with the moments of failure.
That's why little things like this mean so much.
They remind me that no matter how much arguing or crying or back-talking or disrespecting occurs, he is a sweet, sweet boy who loves his mama.
I try to adjust my parenting to his specific needs, but if I'm being completely honest, I'm sure he suffers from "first child over-parenting". What I mean is that there is probably some validity to him feeling that he has the highest expectations, is disciplined the hardest, and is in trouble the most often.
On the other hand though, he is constantly pushing buttons; arguing with absolutely everything and using "that tone" of sass that makes feel like I'm continuously in "instruction" and "character formation" mode with him. Often, I feel so exhausted and emotionally drained from my interactions with him that I fail to remember how deep down, he is truly such a sweet spirited boy.
I remembered that today.
After school he came home and made a picture for me. It was hanging on the refrigerator:
Notice that postscript that he added at the end of his "gender predictions"... it is his way of trying to make me feel better. He knows that I felt sad that I wasn't able to give him a brother. It took him a few weeks to process through it all (that is also a huge part of his personality), but I know that this is his heart's way of trying to make me feel happy and let me know that he's okay.
It made me smile so big.
Parenting is so difficult. It's nearly impossible to balance the moments of frustration with the moments of pride with the moments of contentment with the moments of failure.
That's why little things like this mean so much.
They remind me that no matter how much arguing or crying or back-talking or disrespecting occurs, he is a sweet, sweet boy who loves his mama.
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