Be Prepared.....HA!!!!!

A parent does everything in their power to prepare their child for life.  They teach their children how to do the basic things such as eat, dress, and talk.  How to interact with others, care for their things, and respect of elders are more lessons that are taught.

As children grow the lessons change and evolve.  Something as simple as how to eat morphs into table manners, preparing food, and cleaning up after.  The simple task of dressing turns into how to choose appropriate/matching clothing for the day, or even how to shop for clothes.  When learning how to interact with others it starts as simply as sharing toys but as a child grown it's more about respect, thinking before speaking, and what words a person really doesn't need in their vocabulary.

Without realizing it a parent teaches their children how a man should treat a woman, and how a woman should treat her man.  Lessons on loving others, caring for others, and even how to disagree the right way are taught.

I know my Mom and Dad spent my whole life teaching me how to be a parent.  They may not have realized it at the time, but that is exactly what they were doing each and every day.  The lessons came in how they responded to different situations throughout the day.  They came in how they spoke to us, loved us, and cared for us.  My parent's did everything that they could to prepare me to be a good parent for when the time came that I would have children of my own.

There are others who tried to prepare me for having children in my house.  Those well-wishers that wanted to help, the seasoned mothers that wanted to share their knowledge, even some who weren't mothers but wanted to add in their two cents to the conversation.

One would think that with so many different people sharing their wisdom, and a lifetime of learning from my own parents, that I and my husband would be well prepared to have children living in our home.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!!!



Yes, my husband and I were prepared:

To love
To cherish
To play with
To snuggle with
To hold when they cry
To make them cry with laughter
To teach them the basics (some of them anyway)
To make memories with



BUT...despite everything we were told nothing would prepare us for reality.  Even though we were "warned" about things like sleepless nights and temper tantrums there is nothing that can really prepare you, you just have to experience it.

What are those things?  Well, let me just tell you.



Nothing can prepare you for:

• Waking up multiple times a night with a newborn for several months straight.
• Being startled awake at two in the morning by a two year old that just wants a hug before settling back to sleep.
• The snuggles of a five year old that just wants to be loved.
• The joy on a child's face as you lay on the floor with them and let them climb all over you.
• The smiles and giggles from the baby as you make ridiculous and embarrassing noises, all while laughing with them.
• The dread you feel knowing that you are going to have to discipline.
• The elation that you experience when your child finally gets something you've been trying to teach them for months.
• The pure joy at listening to your children sing along to praise and worship songs, and how they yell at you when you try to change the radio station in the car mid song.

There is no way to prepare for:

• The never ending exhaustion from not getting a nap.  I mean, how is a nap possible when there is always one child awake during the day?
• The ache in your heart when you snuggle your sick child, all the while knowing that there isn't really anything you can do for them, they just have to ride it out.
• The loneliness that creeps in when you are stuck at home with sick kids and can't go out to spend time with friends until they are better.
• The desire to go hide in your closet and eat all the chocolate in the house when the two older kids are screaming at each other, and the baby won't stop crying.
• The desire to cry when you've been playing referee all day and are so extremely exhausted but your spouse, who has worked all day and is also tired, has to spend his night doing homework for his Master's degree so you still have to do bath and bedtime for three despite the fact that you're about to drop.
• The fact that your new scent is baby vomit and poop.
• The cold dinners, or constantly warmed up meals, because your kids need your attention at dinner time instead of your own plate.
• The copious amounts of coffee you will suddenly find yourself consuming just to make it through the day!

These lists could go on and on, of that there is no doubt.  But I want to remind all you tired mommies out there that every moment, good and bad, is a little bundle of blessings.  God gave your children to you as a gift, the most precious gift in the world.  He doesn't ask you to be perfect, He asks you to do your best and leave the rest to Him.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Every single lesson you teach your child, no matter how significant it may seem to you, is a lesson that shapes who your child will become.  Every snuggle, every laugh, every tear, every kissed booboo, every minute in time out.  Each of those little lessons teaches your child how to love, how to enjoy life, how to care for another, and more.

So cherish these moments.  You may not have been as prepared as you would have liked when that little bundle of a blessing entered your life, but you are enough...just as you are.

Good days and bad days...that's what the life of a parent consists of.  But this I will say, the good will always outweigh the bad.  When all you want to do is curl up and cry because you're so tired from the baby keeping you up just remember that sweet smile and little baby laugh.

Everything will be okay...just cherish your little bundles of blessings every moment you can!