I’ve been told (more than a few times) my daughter is a mini-me. Although we are similar in many ways, she is very much her own person. Her unique innovative spirit amazes me and I love watching her creativity mature and grow. The seeds I saw when she was little have spread and multiplied. I’m anxious to see how they further develop!
For young children, everything is new and exciting in the beginning. A two-year old is ecstatic over watching a dump truck. A child unleashes their unstoppable movement in the rhythm of music. A little one is mesmerized by squishing food through his fingers. Each day is a new exploration.
As children grow up, so do their aspirations. The incessant love for animals grows into a desire to become a Veterinarian. The high attention to the surrounding colorful aesthetics reveals an artist waiting to fly. A nurturing heart and relentless love for impoverished children rises up a future parent to a needy orphan.
One of the greatest joys of being a parent is watching our children develop their own passions and interests. What a privilege we have to encourage our children in their zest for life.As parents, it’s up to us to give them opportunities to explore, help them discover patterns of interest, and then allow them to SOAR!
Recently I did something I resisted for a long time. I joined Facebook … but with reservations.
I understand the appeal — catch up with long lost friends, bring everyone up to speed on your life all when you have free time, share photographs in one convenient place, business networking, exposure to a cause, along with many others.
It’s not that I have anything against social networking, but I’m just one of these people that would rather have a more personable one-on-one conversation or a more involved face-to-face discussion with people. Time also plays a huge part in my qualms about joining. There are only 24 hours in a day and I can’t do everything. I know firsthand how things can suck you in and before you know it, your intended goals fall off your radar and you are spending time doing something else.
One example began about three years ago. I joined an online writing website with the goal to get feedback on my writing. I got my free membership and posted some of my work. Before long, I upgraded my membership to maintain an ongoing journal book that others could read and comment on as well. I met other writers and my circle of writer friends got larger.
Before long, I spent much time each day reading and commenting about their daily happenings and writing daily entries about mine. I couldn’t wait to log on to see my comments from my cyber friends and soon, there was little or no time left for me to do any actual writing. That venue became my distraction, not an added benefit to my goal. After about a year, I decided I needed to quit my membership to focus once again on my writing.
Society offers many distractions to lure us from our goals. Some distractions are good at the right times and in the right dosage. Other distractions can threaten to derail us if left unchecked.
Plugged In Online (an entertainment resource put out by Focus on the Family) sends out regular emails. Yesterday’s email boasted a headline, “Facebook: A Turbulent Romance in Four Acts.” Intrigued due to my own thoughts and feelings on the social networking subject, I read the article. It was humorous but truthful. It gave great food for thought.
As parents, are we teaching our children conflict resolution in real life? Do our children know how to manage their real-life friendships without a click of a button? Is more time spent with a laptop, than face-to-face interactions?
I’m not saying we all need to deactivate our social networking memberships, but one thing is certain — time is valuable. Once it’s used, it’s gone. But how we use our time, lingers for a lifetime.
We returned from a wonderful family vacation last week. Always after a vacation, there seems to be a few days needed to catch our breath before we get back into a routine.
As I’ve thought about our summer routine, I am reminded it always looks a little different than I anticipate. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it just reminds me of the need to be flexible as a parent.
Floor sweeping may wait an extra day, as the child’s bedroom organization took longer than anticipated. Laundry may still lay folded in the living room as the family discussion proved far more important. Time for self may temporarily be interrupted in order to listen to our child’s creative writing story. Coveted sleep may be ripped away when our child experiences ear pain during the night.
Flexibility and routine can contradict themselves. I’ve swung both ends of the pendulum. I’ve scheduled every day of our summer to only be left frustrated that items were taken longer than the schedule allowed. I’ve also swung the other direction in scheduling nothing and leaving it all to chance, but spent each day irritated that I accomplished nothing on the list.
Now, I’ve moved towards a more flexible routine … is that an oxymoron?I know what I’d like to accomplish each day, what we need to complete, and what would be fun to do. Then I surrender it all to God and go forward one hour at a time. By midday, I assess how it’s going (when I remember to) and we make changes (if possible).
This causes far less stress for everyone in the house. My kitchen may still be a mess when I go to sleep one night, but I can rest confidently knowing that the things that took precedence over the dishes were more important for that day. Dishes will still be there in the morning.
Remember the flexible metal slinky we played with as a kid? When I didn’t take time to place it straight or if the first drop was too steep, it hit the walls and careened down the staircase out of control. But, if I placed it straight ahead on the stair making sure the staircase wasn’t too steep, it bent and slinked from step to step in a fluid motion. Perhaps that’s a picture of a flexible routine.
We can point our day in the direction we need to go while taking a peek at the terrain in front of us for potential pitfalls. Then we let go and allow God to work in us to accomplish what HE desires for us to do that day.
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.
