Writing a post in the midst of frustration. It will be interesting to read my rants later. Wondering if they will still ring true to me or not. Each one of our kids at different times goes through fazes that try my patience. Currently the frustration is settling on Liam. I struggle the most when it is Liam for 2 reasons. One I often try to empathize with him the most because he is the middle child. I understand what it is like to be the middle. You're to young to do stuff with big brother and to old to act like sister. There is also a positive to this in that you get the grace given to the younger sibling and some of the privileges at an earlier age than your brother got them. But I also struggle when he is the source of my frustration because of him being adopted. Although Liam's adoption was a one time thing and he is now and always will be (and always was) my son, being adopted is part of his journey. His story so to speak. It will always be part of him and whether I like it or not a factor in our parenting of him. With this said Flyboy and I very much believe that because Liam is our son we discipline him as our son. So we do work on things with him. We don't just let him run wild like a hooligan reeking havoc.
Not sure how I got off on this tangent, oh Liam's behavior. So I can't even articulate what the behaviors are. I know for a fact that when I type them out they will seem stupid. Isn't that always the case? Sometimes as a parent I think it is easy for me to keep a tally going of the awful, obnoxious, sinful behavior of my kids. At the end of the day, or around nap time I can be heard saying something like, "I have had enough," or "You are driving me crazy." Isn't it such a blessing the Bible tells us that our slates have been wiped clean? That the record has been sealed! Taken care of! Accounted for!. How much more should I be able to forgive each of my little people's daily issues. Especially because they are still learning. Their life experiences don't leave them with the accountability and responsibility that mine does. I have so much more to be forgiven. I think it is a huge job for me to be an example of God's Grace to my kids. It is a huge job. One that I continually fail at. So glad that God's Grace is sufficient! His power is made perfect in my weakness. I am so glad that applies to my parenting because I am pretty weak!
