Thursday, April 2, 2009

My Parenting Advice (a la Morgan Freeman)

Jay and I are learning. As parents, we learn more every day. And lately what’s becoming more and more obvious is this: Our kids are great. Some days we could eat them with a spoon, they are just that delicious. BUT. If Addison is tired, watch out. If she’s hungry, watch out. And if she is both tired AND hungry, watch out, here comes Teenwolf. And Teenwolf will make your life miserable.

The best fix is a snack and bed. Or avoid Teenwolf altogether by 1) keeping snacks handy at all times and 2) not expecting her to behave when she misses her needed sleep because we are too busy to work around it.

We had a few Teenwolf moments while traveling last weekend. Again, low blood sugar + a messed up schedule = crazed Mommy and a nutso kid. After one particularly bad episode I went outside to take a breather and try to calm down. And decided, when I had time, to write this blog.

Missy recently had a blogging carnival, asking moms to answer the question, “What is the best parenting advice you ever received?” At the time I couldn’t think of one specific piece of advice bestowed on me that made a significant impact on my life. But standing on my mom’s front porch last Saturday, I remembered the advice I had been “given” and wanted to share. I hope it helps one other person, even if it’s only my mom the next time she has to watch Addi!

This advice, believe it or not, from the movie “Evan Almighty.” Morgan Freeman plays God and at one point says to Evan’s wife:

“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

This phrase LITERALLY goes through my head on a daily basis. Every time I am so frustrated I can barely see straight (and believe me, with a three year old, this happens a lot) that quote runs through my mind. I take a deep breath and focus on learning to be patient. Because really, I do ask God for patience. A LOT. And I know it’s coming. One temper tantrum at a time.

1 comment:

... said...

awesome, I love this post! this is so true... I told my Mom this the other day --- that I NEVER should have prayed for patience because God doesn't just GIVE it to you, He gives you opportunities to work on patience... But, I am always thankful for these little miracles, as I know you are, too... I love your blog!

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