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11/11/10
Do You Want Your Kids To Be Happy?
I don't.
I love my children too much to just want them to be happy. Think about it. A million times a day I make my oldest son unhappy! Just this morning when he came downstairs in just a t-shirt and underwear I sent him right back up to get a sweatshirt and pants. Not happy. He wants to stay up late and watch TV? Nope. Not happy.
Why do I think there are more important things than my child's happiness? Because I don't want to raise a brat.
We have all worked with someone or had a friend that clearly didn't how to handle life when they didn't feel "happy." There's such a difference between happiness and learning to being content and grateful for what we have. I want my boys to learn to handle the dry spells.
Don't misunderstand me...I want both of my boys to have joy in their life. But not the joy from always getting what they want whenever they feel like it. I want them to know the true joy of Christ. Period.
I have been reading blogs pretty consistently for 9 months now, and this post from It's Almost Naptime!! is by far the best parenting post I have ever read. Even if you are not a Christian you will still be inspired by her moving story of parenting and adoption despite those who said it couldn't be done.
Thank you to Kristen for passing along this post!
abby & her boys
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I could not agree any more, Abby. I was going to make a post on my blog kinda sorta along these lines. I tell my children all of the time, that I will be their friend when they are grownups. Right now, I am their mom and my #1 job in this whole world is to make sure they grow up to make smart decisions and be productive, compassionate members of society. Things are finally setting in with Ariel, 15. Seeing her evolve in to this young woman that is making her own choices (a lot now), is making me so full of pride. So many today feel entitled and don't want to be held accountable for anything. I WILL NOT RAISE BRATS!! =) Love you and thank you for this post, Abby!!
ReplyDeleteJenni-
ReplyDeleteMy mom used to say, "I'm not your friend. I'm your mother. You have enough friends at school."
;-)
maybe I'll ask my kids to read this post tonight, just so they can see I'm not the only Mum who uses the "I'm not your friend, I'm your Mum, and that's a lot more important" line! Manners and personal responsibility have gotten lost somewhere along the way, haven't they?
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