When It Matters

November 15, 2019  •  3 Comments

Quick story: I signed one of my children up to volunteer at the annual Harvest Fair at our church. The fair fell on the same night the child wanted to attend the Guilford High School football game. I was willing to entertain the request for a little service work and a little football, right up until the pissy little bugger slammed the vehicle door so hard the car shook. That attitude bought ‘em an all expense paid ticket to working the Harvest Fair for the entire evening.

As I mentioned in past posts, I like to approach my role as a parent a lot like a farmer runs a farm. The farmer doesn’t care if the sheep want to spend all night out in the field grass guzzling, she knows that those sheep have to come in so they don’t freeze to death. But what I discovered this week is that fatigue (along with all its other negative effects) flusters Farmer Mags into thinking that she actually cares about her children’s opinions around circumstances such as these. 

My children’s feelings and viewpoints absolutely matter to me. They matter when those feelings and viewpoints are serving their character and the world around them. However, they matter little when they’re only serving their own cravings. When I’m overtired, I easily and completely unconsciously, confuse the two. Just another spectacular excuse to slow down, if you ask me.

 

If this post tickled your fancy, you might also enjoy reading Mean Mama, Slow Me Down Lord and Take More Naps.
 

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Comments

Mags
Wendy and Barry, I totally agree. I actually had to give up reign over the kids' schedules at about 8/9 years old. That's when it became clear to me that I had to run plans by them to make sure that they wanted to spend time with that certain friend outside of school...or that activity was something they were still interested in pursuing. Now I get those service opportunities on the calendar early so everyone can prepared for them.
Thanks for checking in~
Barry Bonessi(non-registered)
I must say I agree with Wendy’s comments. There will be many opportunities for children to serve community service, but high school football games are an important aspect of their 4 high school years.
Wendy(non-registered)
What I’ve learned (after the fact), is that mother/daughter relationships in the teen years can be very reactive and emotional which doesn’t help anyone in the long run. My advice is to take into consideration that your teenager may have other plans before you sign them up so you can prepare them and talk about the options or compromise. The days are gone when you have full reign over their social calendar!
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