Sibling Blunders

The dreaded day came: July 1st.  I have known since the first day of residency Joel would have to serve 8 months away from home, in increments of two.  This July is the first round of two months of no Joel.  No Joel equals no help.  It's a bit like single parenting, except I don't have to worry about the financial support. (I would not wish single parenting on my worst enemy!)  On the upside, these two months, he gets to come home on weekends; a huge plus! I honestly had no idea what to expect out of these atypical months.  I decided I would do my best to keep the girls busier than normal, so they wouldn't notice daddy's absence.  That's worked okay. So far, my largest draining factor is being the sole disciplinarian during the week.  I can hear it ringing in my head: our two girls fighting over whose crown is whose.  And then fighting over who had the most strawberries.  And then fighting over who is making up all the rules and being bossy.  When it comes down to it, all my mom ears hear is "me, me, me."   It doesn't help when daddy comes home on the weekend and gives into their every whim because he wants them to love it when he's home - completely understandable!  

 

We'll see how the rest of July and August go.  My kids are obviously gravitating towards selfishness.  They are not seeing each other's point of views at all.  So, I'm the proactive type.   When an issue arises, I don't like it to linger.  I typically nip it as quickly as possible.  

Game Plan:

I'm looking for practical ways to encourage random acts of kindness.  Perhaps I could model serving others around us better?  Sometimes I feel like it's all we can do to simply survive the day.  I'm thinking our best option is to start small (my tendency is to overdo it) with making the neighbors who just moved in cookies?   In the bible Jesus modeled servant-hood to his disciples.  It was a large focus in His ministry.  If it was His focus and He is Lord of my life, it needs to be my focus as well.  My bend is to put my time into my kid's education and activities.  Maybe I have it all wrong.  While I process what this looks like, I will be looking for scripture to speak into my children's hearts to build one another up and to treat each other the way they themselves want to be treated.  A constant battle for the next decade?  Most likely.  Wish the tired Mom good luck!  Another cup of coffee, please?