Expectations, judgement and kids...

Well hows that for a happy Sunday afternoon topic...haha! I promise the post is not as dreary as the title sounds.
Something has been on my mind a lot lately and seems to continue to be in front on my face is the expectations we have for our children, the judgement that comes with what our kids do and the choices we make as a family.

There are a lot of things they don't tell you when you want to try for your first baby...besides all the trials and tribulations of actually getting pregnant there is all the 'judgement' that comes from outside sources. EVERY single person you know in your life and even those you don't know have the BEST advice out there.

According to them.

Let me tell you even doctors aren't on the same page and they all have different advice too. We are on our 6th pediatrician in 4 years, not for any reason other than moving or changing insurance, okay I take that back one we switched immediately from because she was baffled that I nursed my 2 month old and didn't supplement and said she couldn't imagine how...that was a red flag for this mama.

Anyway all 6 had something different to say about everything.

I have quickly learned that the one right person for MY children is me...occasionally Daddy has a say too ;) I'm kidding, partly, my husband is very complacent in this matter and leaves all the vaccination, diet/nutrition, activity planning up to me with a nod of the head and a sign on the check. Not that he doesn't care he just trusts me to make the best choice for the kids.

Anyways what's my point, well judgement comes in all forms. Too many activities, not enough. Starting school too young, starting too late. Too many vaccinies, not enough. I could go on but I think you get the point.

We as parents, and hopefully most of us are intelligent ones, make the best choices we can for our family. We are the good influences on our kids. I know my kids can handle somethings but not other things. K does gymnastics twice a week for a total of 3 hrs. She can handle it and she loves it. It's a good choice for us. I want her to do the mission adventure at church on Wednesday nights, but it's from 7pm -8:30pm. Her bedtime is 7:30pm, she cannot handle going to be at 9pm on a week night and not being a total bear the next day.

A wise friend told me about planning and how she plans for one thing at a time and re-evaluates onto the next. Now I don't know if this is a quote or not but this is what just came to mind...
A plan is never written in ink, but in pencil, with a large eraser.

And for me that sums it up, I expect my kids to do this today, I shall face the judgement with grace and learn as we go forward. Sometimes that eraser will be very handy, other times we can tuck it away confident in our choices.



Today we studied the parable of the weeds and the wheat, if you're interested read Matthew 13:24-30....it all came together for me today after reading that story.