Marathon parenting
All parenting is a marathon, right? Well the last few days has felt like a marathon and a half. Every night we are having what amounts to family counseling sessions with our eldest. Last night was the longest. It started when we ate dinner at 7 and didn’t get over till AFTER I went to bed at 10:30. Kaleb and I both tend to be lecturers, but we were thankful that Gabe actually participated in the discussion last night. We don’t know how much got through, but I guess we won’t until we see from fruit from the boy.
He has 15 days of school left and the administration has let him know that if he gets caught again, in any kind of serious activity, he could be immediatley expelled. In our area, school options are very limited, so that is not an option. NOT AN OPTION! He actually said last night that he didn’t know if he could stay out of trouble for the next 15 days. Kaleb was flabergasted by that statement (made after I went to bed) and told me to talk to the boy this morning on our way in to work (he is volunteering at the Salvation Army). I told him that that kind of statement gives himself a back door to get into trouble.
“See Mom and Dad, I TOLD you I couldn’t stay out of trouble for 15 days. See!”
I told him that he is not allowed to call himself that stupid. He is not allowed to tell himself that he has no self control. He DOES! We discussed how he has to make up his mind NOW what he is going to say so that when the situations arise he already has his answers prepared. This will hopefully help counter the whole “I just do it by instinct” crap.
I gave him an example about ice cream. I am ADDICTED to ice cream. Not just ice cream, but cold things in general. I freeze lots of stuff. Berries, grapes, chocolate milk, my pop, etc… I love frozen stuff. But, if my doctor told me that for the next 15 days I had to stay away from anything cold or I could make myself very sick, I would have to make the choice that I was going to listen to my doctor. It would hurt, and I would really REALLY miss my ice cream, but I could do it because I would know it was what was best for me. In fact, after the 15 days, I would probably not be craving ice cream so much and would have put healthier habits in place.
I think he zoned out through most of it, but he laughed at me, so that is a good sign.
We may be having a certain young lady, another part of the drama, over for pizza tonight so that Gabe can give her an explanation of why he is not supposed to be dating ANYONE right now.
Just found out that Jeremiah didn’t earn a home visit this weekend. SAD! I am really going to miss my little guy!
Lord, we pray for wisdom for all parties involved and that you would show us how to be the parents YOU want us to be. Thank you for being OUR Father.
