Skip to main content

Quite a weekend


It seems very surreal that Molly got lost on Saturday. You'd never know by the look of her. She acts just like normal--not really phased by it. Thankfully, I think we've recovered too. I can't even fathom what it would feel like to lose a child after losing Molly. It was so scary to me! With Sami being one who must touch everything, she spends a lot of time in carts.

My husband and I had an interesting discussion about kids and dogs and this was the kids part from my end. I have come to feel that as much as I would like to give my kids the freedom to walk and not hold my hand, it isn't safe. If we are in a store, 90% of the time Sami travels in the big part of the cart and Eli in the top. If the cart is big enough, Autumn also sits with Sami. It's just easier and safer. No one gets lost. More than that, it's lots less stressful for me. Sami just doesn't seem to be able to control herself yet and not touch everything in the store! That can make for very stressful trips for me if she is walking on her own.

When Autumn was 15 months old, I realized that I should have been training her from a much younger age to hold my hand when we were out. I say much younger because she started walking at 9 months. I had wanted to give her that freedom and enjoy the innocence of those first steps and learning to walk. But, I realized when she was 15 months that I also, more importantly, needed to teach her to be safe by holding Mommy's hand and it became an issue of submitting to authority and obeying Mommy, too.

I'm going through the same thing with Eli now. But, this time if he won't hold my hand, I just pick him up. He's got a lot of Sami's spunk and so I need to make sure he understands he needs to hold my hand and be safe. I'm okay if he holds the girls' hands instead--just as long as it's somebody's hands.

There is a desire in our hearts to give our children freedom, because it seems that enjoyment will come in that. But, that freedom needs to come when they're ready for it, I think. If we give it to them too soon, it can be a very unsafe thing. It's hard for mom to be strong and insist on holding hands, but I know it's the best thing for my kids and me.

God is teaching me about sitting under His authority and I see that with my kids every day.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Listening to the Bible

The Word of Promise (Bible on CD) I have been reading the Bible for as long as I can remember. I remember being given a Good News Bible when I was in third grade. When I was 14, my great grandmother gave me a copy of the Living Bible. When I went to college, I began to read the NIV and held onto a thin paperback copy for 4 years that I wrote all over. After I graduated from college, I really wanted a nice NIV study Bible and I saved up to buy one. I have held onto it ever since. Last year, I found a tiny ESV leatherbound Bible on clearance and it is now the one I carry with me in my purse. Interestingly enough, after all these years of reading the Bible, I have never listened to it on CD. I've often considered it. I've listened to lots of teaching on CD from Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, and others, but I've never actually listened to the Word on CD. Two weeks ago, I received a copy of the Word of Promise Bible on CD. I opened it up with excitement ...