You know how when you want a new car you think, I want a xxx because no one has one, but the minute you think that you start seeing those cars everywhere? I think that is what has happened with one of the goals from my 2012 goals.
Here’s what I said:
4. I will take delight in my son. I will find joy in the fun times and the challenging times. He’ll turn two later this year, and we won’t have the terrible twos in our home. I’m not letting them in; we will pray them out. Even on days when things are not going so great, I will remind myself that he is just a little boy; he doesn’t plan to upset me or make me mad. He is merely expressing himself the best way he knows how. I will let him be little. I will strive to have patience, and take a break or count to ten when it runs out. Terrific twos, here we come!
I meant every word of it. I don’t live in some fantasy world where things are perfect; I choose to change my attitude because it’s what I have the ability to change.
Since I posted this, and before–I thought it long before I put pen to paper (keyboard to screen?), I have heard so many negative comments by parents about their children. I have such a hard time stomaching these comments. I know that, by and large, these are fleeting moments of frustration posted or shared aloud, but I really don’t get it. Posts about the terrible twos and how it only gets worse through the third and fourth year just make me cringe. I can’t write off a whole year based on a few incidents. (For those of you thinking the famous, just you wait thoughts, hang in there with me this year. Please stick around for the terrific twos and the thriving threes; we’ll be home to the fabulous fours as well.)
One article that was brought to my attention this week was this one. I had a really hard time digesting this as well. Maybe I’m overly sensitive. Maybe I’m the one in the minority here, but I do try to find joy in each and every moment. Mr. Gray and I steal a secret little smile each time Baby Gray tests the limits a little. He’s learning about his world. We are making memories. Cliché, anyone? He is helping to create the funny stories we’ll tell when he starts dating–the stories we’ll recount when he goes off to college.
Baby Gray is truly the child for which we have prayed. I am so grateful he is healthy enough to run back and forth to the windows and bang on the blinds. I am grateful he is happy enough to dance when I shake my head, “no.” I am grateful he is strong enough to climb up the slide. I am grateful he is independent enough to know what he wants and not be afraid to let us know, even if he doesn’t have the words to express himself just yet. I am grateful he is inquisitive enough to pick things up, shake them, and sometimes break them.
I will take delight in my son.
Well written Mama!!! Carpe Diem!!!! We do have to take delight in them- God gave them to us to teach and to train- and enjoy them…every little bit!!!!