Knows Why Some Animals Eat Their Young

He raises his voice. She whines and whimpers. “You’re so mean.” One stomps off in a huff. The other refuses to do as he/she is told. “I wish I didn’t have a brother.” He whines. She raises her voice and pops her brother (which is probably over-due). He breaks down in tears, and she blows hot air like a bull at a matador. Homework was a struggle, and the ride home was tense. One had a rough day at school, and the other is rubbing it in. This is at the end of the day, and I’m at the end of my rope.


I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHY SOME ANIMALS EAT THEIR YOUNG!

Now, you know I love my kids. They crack me up. I find humor in much of what they do, but there are days that sometime string into weeks that they just bring me to swing at the end of the proverbial rope. There is just so much a mom or a person can handle before the last nerve that the kids jump on snaps in half or multiple pieces, and the exorcist takes control of my head causing it to spin like a top. Can I get a witness?

Let me encourage you, Sweet Parent. Breathe deeply. You are not alone. You can do this without doing irrepairable harm to your precious children. This is what I learned as a child when my mom had reached her maximum capacity of child-caused stress.

When I was growing up, Lori and I knew when we had pushed our mom over the line…she’d use the “c” word… “c-rap.” That was the sign that the end was near. The rapture was about to take place…not the churches rapture, but mine and Lori’s. We were about to meet our maker…normally that meant our daddy. We’d meet our Creator another day. On those days as a child, I learned A LOT about prayer. I remember laying in my bed praying, “God, please let her forget!” or “God, please let daddy work late.” Some were answered. Some were not.

The waiting was so stressful. The not-knowing of what the future held for my fate was intense. It was during these waiting times that I learned just how much stress I had caused because I was now feeling it as I waited…in the quiet. That was the worst. Waiting in the quiet. Not hearing a sound. What in the world could she possibly be doing in the other room!?

On the rare times that my mom did not mention it to my dad or the matter was dropped, I learned what grace was. I learned what it meant to be pardoned. Did I deserve to get disciplined and even punished? Hehehe, I’ll let you wonder. But when grace was exercised, it washed over me relieving me of my anxiety and bringing me to repentance.

When discipline or punishment came, we were allowed to soak in it for a while, but then the time came that my daddy or my mom would come to us, bring us in their arms, and tell us that they loved us but not the behavior we had shown. What did that teach me? That someone can love me but not my behavior and that my parents expected the best out of me.

SOOOOOO, my friend, if you are struggling in the parenting gig, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. YOU ARE NOT A BAD PARENT IF YOU LOOSE YOUR MIND ON OCCASION. IT’S CALLED BEING HUMAN.

One more thing, I’m not perfect in parenting. It will be interesting to hear my kids spin on things when they get older. Be careful when you criticize another parent. You don’t know where they’ve been or what they’re going through. Instead, why don’t you pray for them, pray over them…and if necessary, provide your sister a little relief. Trade out. Give her a break…some time to herself. Hang in there my fellow mommies. Hang in there.