Today my daughter tweeted: "My family is stupid. #Mad." She knows I follow her, so apparently she was sending a message. A hurtful message. On Alex's behalf, we barged into her room at the early hour of 8:00 am (ahem) to inform her that we were all going to the city for a holiday shopping trip. (We scoundrels.) Anyway, once I noticed the tweet, it was a fairly quiet ride.
A couple of weeks ago the New Yorker published a cartoon with a parent attempting to control his two boys fighting. The caption, "Now listen. I'm only going to say this a million times." That resonated. I showed it to the kids. They had no reaction. Not funny to them, I guess.
I hope my kids are kind to others. I hope they understand charity. Because if there is one recurring theme in our household, I'd say it's "disrespect."
The love for my children fills me with joy and terrifies me at the same time. But I wonder, does my love for them make me a competent mother? Much of the time, I'm awed by them. Then, stuff happens. And I think to myself, "Do I know these people at all?" Or, "What are they thinking?"
So maybe the holiday season isn't starting off so spectacular, but the optimist in me thinks it will get better. Good Housekeeping had ten prayers in December's issue. My favorite? Give Me Perseverance. Here's the first line:
People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.
Certainly, that is the creed of parenthood.
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