Friday, June 22, 2012

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is Not Always An Oncoming Train!

Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
 - Ed Asner

By now you know I'm a mom to three boys, ages 10, 9, and 5. They are REAL boys. They are active, loud, busy, and able to turn anything into a weapon. They are your basic boys, and I wouldn't trade them for the world!

As the mom of boys, life is not always easy. It's rarely quiet in our house. It's almost impossible to keep the house picked up. Dinner times are often a challenge with manners reminders and noise level policing. When they play together, there is usually pushing, shoving, and yelling. Again, they are normal kids!

But sometimes, there is a light at the end of a long day. It's like God says, "Hang in there! Your hard work as their mom is paying off!" We've had one of those moments lately, and I wanted to share it with you as an encouragement.

The other night at dinner, we were all together at the dining room table (we try to have "real dinner" at the table together as often as possible). The boys loved the spaghetti I served and were very effusive in their praise of the meal (no, this is not always the case. we are trying to cure them of the "yuck! I'm not eating that!"). They sat in their seats and used good manners! We had pleasant conversation! We played Question of the Night without drama (each person gets to ask the whole family a question, and we all take turns answering.). Then the boys tried not to laugh at DH's jokes (they are trying to convince him that they don't think he's funny. His mock horror has all of them in stitches.). Then we all cleared the table together and went about our night.

Why am I telling you about this? Because parenting is hard work! Being consistent and guiding our kids as we help them become productive members of society is exhausting. Sometimes we can go days, or even weeks, without any glimmer of positive results. I know. I've been there.

Let my glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel that was not an oncoming train be an encouragement to you. Look for the little lights. Watch for the positive results of your hard work. They will be there. And those moments can help carry you for a little while longer.

Do you have any little "light" moments to share? I would love to hear about them!

7 comments:

  1. I am the happy mom of two girls and all I can do is admire you!!! 3 boys! WOW! You have all my respect ;)

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    1. Paloma, thank you, but it's the mommas of girls that deserve respect. I'm convinced that having girls is much tougher than having boys. God knew I wasn't strong enough for all the "stuff" that comes with girls.

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  2. Having the best of both worlds,I can honestly say each one brings their own set of "stuff." However, my husband and I find ourselves more frequently saying "here we go again" with our daughter. Then we laugh and deal with it. Yes, the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes takes a long time to appear but I am ecstatic when it shines.

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    1. Dawn, the above is my comment - Marie Martin

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    2. Hi Marie! Happy to have you here! I love both your kids and can't believe how grown they are getting. If I did have a daughter, I would want her to be like yours.

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  3. Sometimes you just want to tear your hair out, don't you?! I can just imagine the bedlam that is your home! I have 4 kids, 2 of each and they're 11, 8, 6 & 4 and apart from my husband, we're all loud! I homeschool them and very, very occasionally, I think I'm mad! xx
    www.LinsFood.com

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    1. You homeschool? Wow! Next to my husband, my favorite person in the world is the bus driver that picks my kids up every morning :-) I'm really missing her right now. My hat's off to you for homeschooling!

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I would love to hear what you think. And I'll write back. Thanks for making the time to leave me a message.

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