mother's prayer

We started off the summer on a bad note. Within an hour of awakening on Annike's first day home I was angry, frustrated, impatient, and found myself using a military tone with my children. Of course, this is because they were whining, arguing, ignoring me, and generally being unpleasant. It may be well-deserved, but this is not how I want the summer to go.

I am morally against planning up every moment of the summer because I sincerely believe in the health of unstructured time. Unplanned hours are when children learn to be creative, when they exercise skills I didn't know they had, and when they first practice self-motivation. Their future world has plenty of structure and they need freedom to simply be kids. But I also don't want to spend the next few months dreading the way we will spend our days together. (See last summer's post here... I am still striving to avoid survival mode!)

Not wanting to fall into a cycle of frustrated, negative, parenting this summer, today started with a prayer:

A Mother's Prayer for Summer

Dearest Lord of All Seasons,

Bless our time of togetherness.

May I treasure up today for tomorrow it will be gone.

May we strike the delicate balance between rest and activity.

May our unstructured hours be fruitful in the ways that matter most.

May our boredom be fought with creativity.

May our whining be fought with gratitude.

May our arguing be fought with appreciation.

May our selfishness be fought with perspective.

Guide us as we choose our words, our hearts, our attitudes.

Together life is better, we laugh longer, we love stronger.

Help us view each day a unique opportunity.

The lesson isn't just for them. It also is for me.

Amen.

I am also re-convicted to be consistent with our family breakfast devotional time. My friend's blog at Not My Own once recommended the VeggieTales "365 Very Veggie Devos", and I must agree that it feels just right for small children. The short and simple lessons are about sharing, telling the truth, being kind, obeying - all very applicable to the little group listening. If you aren't currently using something you like, I recommend it!

We also started a summertime sticker chart with the goal of keeping us intentional and providing alternatives to television as a time-filler. I made Annike's first, and wrote the title at the top:

"Annike's Summer Chart".  

Annike was participating, and as I moved on to the second chart, she suggested I write:

"Sommer's Annike Chart."

Hmmm. A bit confusing when you name a child after a season.

So this is how our summer will go. It is never too late to start over, set some better goals, and PRAY for the Lord to bless our endeavors!

(This video made me laugh. I hope you are not viewing it sideways. The narrative is not important, but the joy of watching my three kids fill up the swing set is. Anyone want to join us at the park?!)