Growing up

Do you ever have one of those days?

Some days it seems like the only thing we do is child training.
We actually had a very good morning. We went to the park in the spur of the moment and joined a group of friends. We had a wonderful time!

This afternoon is a different story and it seems that no matter what I do Davin will not lay down for more than 10 minutes of quiet time. It's been a 2 hour battle! Now that it has been made into a full blown battle I can't very well back down but I can re-think my technique in the future. A timer? More prep work before rest time?

The only problem is that this isn't just a rest time battle. This is my baby boy entering his 3s. Whoever coined the phrase "terrible twos" never spent much time with a 3 year old. If he's anything like Cole though I can be reassured in the fact that our training challenges will evolve when he turns 4.
4 year olds are like mini teenagers. Cole seems to be more obedient in the basic ways which is encouraging but he has more drama and is discovering new fears that he didn't have before.

When they were babies I couldn't wait to see their new stages and discoveries. Some days like today though it's everything I can do to hang on to that attitude. It's so easy to get caught up in the moment and you won't know what they will remember.
For example; I had a good childhood and I'm sure that my dad and I had more good times than bad. The few memories I have of being the boys' ages though are being mostly of being spanked or yelled. Now, my dad is a good dad and we are close so I know that I wasn't punished excessively but that's what stuck with me. I don't want that for my kids but I admit that I struggle to remember that on days like today.

Kids are a lot of work and some days it feels like all you do is discipline them. rumor has it that it you put the work in now while they are little they will be more receptive to guidance and instruction later. We do this because if we can't teach them to hear our voice then how can we ever expect them to hear God? These are my thoughts for the day and as I train up my children and they help me refine my own imperfections in my attitude I think we will be reading the story of Samuel at bed time.