Parenting with Endurance

As I am going along in this parenting journey I see that my prayer is really to parent with endurance.

This has come to me time and time again but yesterday I had a moment.

I was sitting on the couch having a silent moment. I was exhausted! We had just gotten home from lunch with my parents. You see I get my Make Memories gene, my Go Go Go gene and my Global Family gene from my Mother. So this wasn’t just lunch. We dyed Easter Eggs and had lunch. It wasn’t just me and my kids my niece and nephew were included too. If all of them had had a few Easter Egg Dying years under their belts maybe this would have been a different memory making experience, but I have a 7 year old, and an 18 month old. My niece is exactly a year older than my 18 month old daughter which makes her 2 ½ and my nephew has never even seen Easter at a whopping 9 weeks old. I am not sure either of the girls had actually dyed eggs before. I can speak for my daughter, last year we gave her one egg in a box of colored rice to shake while my husband, son and I dyed the rest of the eggs. So naturally when dying eggs with my parents, she threw the egg into the cups splashing the color liquid everywhere, used the spoon that was to gently lay the egg into said cup for shoveling the colored dye into her mouth as if it were soup and then grabbing the egg with her bare hand to “permanently” dye her hand to match her beautiful egg. Not to mention the fact that at this age no one really understands turn taking and sharing so if someone has an egg is the color you want that boilings up some loud screaming emotions. I don’t know how my mother does this day in and day out, taking care of our kids daily as we work or on some days I see it as my parent “get-a-way”. We cleaned up before getting all eggs colored which was a wise decision. Carried on to have lunch with a varied menu to please us all. Then we had to make sure we all got a turn feeding the littlest one. Again not old enough to understand turn taking and sharing yet no time like the present to learn.

This was all after our 18 month doctors appointment and running errands.

We quickly pulled into the garage scurried my daughter to nap, told my son to go to the basement and quietly watch a movie. I found myself in a moment of silence sitting alone on the couch. I was battling spend time with your kids and get time for yourself (relax and rejuvenation). I could sit there and do nothing or I could make some popcorn and join my son. I know it is important to take care of ourselves and find the perfect balance with it, all while making memories with our kids. To be honest I really just wanted to sit there scroll facebook and twitter, but I know these children don’t stay young forever. I am only going to have Spring Break 2018 once. So I got some popcorn and joined my son. I am not sure if he knew the difference but we cuddled at length until my daughter woke up.

I am reminded of the verses in Hebrews chapter 12 that talks about endurance. It says let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. In that parenting section of my life I need this. God has given these children to me now to love, grow and parent. They will grow quickly, this I know, therefore I need to endurance to be present with them every moment I can get!