One of my biggest parenting weaknesses (alongside procrastination, lack of consistency and little patience) is that I often expect results immediately. I keep forgetting that it takes years of reminding, gentle correcting and constant teaching to have a child fully grasp the concept and apply it. But I also seem to forget how rewarding it is when the children actually get it after all those moments of working with them.
Yesterday we had one of those moments. Last year, I realized we had developed some very sloppy prayer habits. This is not the kids’ fault but rather lies at the feet of Brent and I. When we realized what was happening during family prayer, we determined to change it. We demonstrated, reminded, sometimes even scolded our kids about behaving during prayer and kneeling quietly and listening. I wondered if we would ever have a reverent family prayer. It was hard. Last night as we all knelt down for family prayer, I realize that we’ve really made progress. All the kids knelt on the ground without arguments or fuss, listened quietly during the prayer, and behaved. It was beautiful. And the best part of it was that we didn’t even need to struggle along with little Brooke because she’s been watching our example all along and kneeling reverently since we started working on it. I guess there is something to be said for forming good habits right away as opposed to replacing bad habits with good habits.
Now on to conquer some more bad habits!
I know exactly what you mean. I expect the kids to just know tons of stuff I’ve never taught them, b/c they are so smart, even though I know they don’t know it! And I always expect them to remember everything I say the first time I say it.
But nothing beats seeing the kids all be reverent at once (you know, like once a month maybe).
Eliza-Jane will sit down, fold her arms, and say Amen for prayers (sometimes before the end if she thinks it’s too long). That is definitely a moment.
Happy New Year. I love new beginnings.
Well done; it does indeed take patience!
I hope your house is a vomit-free zone this morning.
Hooray! Success like that is so nice. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how parenting is like making sausage — the finished product is great, but you don’t want to know what goes into it. It’s not easy, and it’s not everyday wonderful, but there are moments when it’s very delicious.