Saturday, July 24, 2010

p.a.t.i.e.n.c.e. and eye candy

I struggle with having enough patience to make it through the day without screaming at one of our four children. I'm not talking about raising my voice a bit. There is a difference in raising your voice to get a serious point across, and downright screaming out of frustration and anger.  It is something I have to pray about often and be aware of when I sense my patience running thin. And with four young children, all fairly close in age, my patience is tested on a daily basis.

Like when Brady, our three year old, has an accident on the living room carpet...for the third time that day. We are working on potty training but it hasn't clicked quite yet. I am learning how to stay calm, contain my composure, and treat the situation with the correct attitude. Whether it is a teaching or disciplining situation, I get down to my child's level, talk in simple words they can understand, and have them look me in the eye. And guess what. It works! Most of the time that is.  

I can't stand it when I scream at our children. It makes me sick to my stomach. I wish I could go back and have a do-over every time I let my frustrations get the best of me and screamed at one of my children. The worst part about it is seeing my children let their own frustrations turn into a lashing out of some sort. I can't help but think they act in this way because they have seen me act this way. This hurts me and I know it hurts them.

But the good news is, we can unhurt our children. We can make it better. We can change our harmful behaviors. And you can start today. No time like the present! I am not saying it won't be extremely difficult at times, making you want to throw the towel in and give up.  Trust me, I know. I continue to struggle at times, even though I have gotten a lot better. It is a journey. It is going to take time, consistency, commitment, support, self-discipline and above all God. With His grace you can do anything! Even overcome your deepest and darkest struggle. 

And on a much lighter note, I leave you with some eye candy.


<>
I used two different editing techniques on these two pictures. Which one looks better to you?


Women pay 100's of dollars to get his color hair.


2 comments:

Susie said...

I know how you feel about patience.I hate when I get angry too. I know potty training takes a lot of patience. When we were going through it a few months ago it really tried my patience. She finally got it and my granddaughter had to do it on her time.They kept promising her that they will take her to ride Thomas the Train if she got the pottying down.It worked. Hang in there. I love the way the second picture look pf Brady best. Such a cutie.

Janae Moss said...

Beautiful hair and eye color...I think I may be one of those women you are talking about that pays hundreds of dollars for this color...lol