I've been blogging on and off for years. But I've never written
about 'parenting' before. I suppose I'd never had any of those
'aha' moments that motivated me to start writing.
As the mother of a baby, I loved reading parenting books; I was looking forward putting into practice all I was learning (and found it so easy to judge those already in that phase!)
It didn't take long for me to notice that it's easy to have a theoretical plan, but much harder to implement it when, for instance, I'm in the middle of cooking something, another child is demanding attention and the phone is ringing!
Although there were things I loved in my favourite parenting books, I also had a growing uneasiness with some of some of their principles.
And then, more recently, came ten months of travelling between different locations and being together as a family most of the time. No school. All of us working from home. Children in transition.
I could no longer avoid figuring out this parenting thing!
I remember reading somewhere recently (I'm struggling to find the quote) that we expect to have a straightforward family with children who behave a way that seems reasonable. But I think most of us have found that our while are children are wonderful and bring us much joy, they also can have areas of great struggle. Figuring out how best to parent each child can be very challenging.
As the mother of a baby, I loved reading parenting books; I was looking forward putting into practice all I was learning (and found it so easy to judge those already in that phase!)
It didn't take long for me to notice that it's easy to have a theoretical plan, but much harder to implement it when, for instance, I'm in the middle of cooking something, another child is demanding attention and the phone is ringing!
Although there were things I loved in my favourite parenting books, I also had a growing uneasiness with some of some of their principles.
And then, more recently, came ten months of travelling between different locations and being together as a family most of the time. No school. All of us working from home. Children in transition.
I could no longer avoid figuring out this parenting thing!
I remember reading somewhere recently (I'm struggling to find the quote) that we expect to have a straightforward family with children who behave a way that seems reasonable. But I think most of us have found that our while are children are wonderful and bring us much joy, they also can have areas of great struggle. Figuring out how best to parent each child can be very challenging.
Living in transition with our three children
was not always easy: When faced with children who erupted into
screams for reasons that seemed minor to me, refusing to stay in bed at night, or fighting with other children, I was at a loss as to what to do.
Another confusing aspect of the puzzle was that when I spoke to them in a way that I thought was stern but kind, they would cower in fear, telling me I was 'scary'.
I'd had various discussions with friends about wanting to parent in way that models how Jesus treats people: with love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, patience and with second chances. After various difficult parenting moments on furlough, I went running to Amazon for books that would help me figure out how to parent in this way.
I'd had various discussions with friends about wanting to parent in way that models how Jesus treats people: with love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, patience and with second chances. After various difficult parenting moments on furlough, I went running to Amazon for books that would help me figure out how to parent in this way.
I ended up reading a lot of books. The one that resonated with me the most overall was Discipline that Connects with your Child's Heart by Jim and Lynne Jackson, founders of the faith-based organisation Connected Families.
And that's how the figuring out began.
