Today in church, we talked about being there for our kids.
The discussion was aimed at most mothers who had children in the tween to teen years.
We talked about making our selves available for our kids whenever they needed. To be there, to listen and give counsel when needed, but mostly be there and listen.
The thought came to me, these young, precious years that I have with my baby girls are training grounds for when they are older.
How many times has Lily came up to me while I zoom around the house sweeping or picking up and said "Mommy come play!"
and I give the typical answer:
"right after...." or "five more minutes".
I need to teach my girls NOW that I am always there for them.
I will drop what I am doing and be there. No matter what.
It might be playing with Buzz and choo-choos now,
and it might be heartache, insecurity and tough decisions later.
8 comments:
oh man i've been thinking about this so much lately... especially after stella has started saying "just a minute" or "wait a second" after i ask her to do things... pretty sure i know where she got that! haha something i'm definitely working on!
I was just thinking about this today! Were your lessons from Elder Hales' talk from GC in April? I just put that Mormon Messages video on my blog. I find myself telling Avie I'll be there, but I just have to do whatever it is "really fast." Then I've found her doing things, and she says the same thing. Makes me realize I just need to slow down and some things don't have to be done at that moment, and it will be OK.
I think that's a really good lesson, and easy to forget. Somthing you have to constantly remind yourself of!!
That is funny because at our RS conference we learned kind of the opposite, they told us we need to not have too much of a child-centered relationship, they said your kids need to know that you are not at their beckon call... I think they were talking about older kids... but I think it can be applied anywhere... you have to have a balance I think:)
This is such good insight! Thanks for being inspiring and I will definitely be thinking of what you said in your post more this week!
Thanks for this Rach... I'm going to relish more of the little moments with my kiddos.
I think relishing our kids' childhood is important. But rather than being at my girls' beck and call, I think it's more important for them to learn that if I say "in a minute" I really truly do mean "in a minute" and that whatever it is I said "in a minute" to really does happen. There are things that have to happen in life, things that really do take precedence over others. And the sooner our kiddos learn that-whether it's sitting quietly in church (I'm still working on that one for myself and I'm nearly 30) or realizing that the floor really does need vacuumed before we rock out to some music-the better and the more smooth and happy life will pan out! Our children are important, but the things we are teaching them, in the long run, are also very important. I like to think that along with teaching my girls to laugh and play, I'm teaching them that it's possible to work, laugh and play, and not just laugh and play whenever they want.
Then again, I've been told I have my girls doing too many chores for a 4 and 5 year old, too...so maybe I'm totally off base here!
I have been thinking the same thing. As I sit at the computer now, Bryce brings me a new toy to play with him. All they want is us to be with them.
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