Raising a boy (or any child for that matter!)

I have often been counseled by some godly and wise friends that in times when I am struggling that the best thing I can do before the Lord is cultivate a heart of thanksgiving... and that laughter is good medicine :)

(Side note: I feel like I would be lying (by omission) if I blogged what I am about to tell you without being honest... it has been a TRYING week! It has been a week of MUCH reading, MUCH praying and MUCH counsel seeking for this Mommy :) For those of you with children, especially boys, who have hit 22 months ahead of us... you probably know exactly what I am talking about!! I can sum it up with one instance from yesterday as I went to pick up the dirty linens from the bed babies/crawling babies class at church to be washed for tomorrow. There was no one left in the church office except Pastor Larry (our teaching pastor)... on the way to the children's wing I was holding Bright's hand and Larry asked me what was new with our family. I responded (TO THE PASTOR) with "Trying to figure out how to parent a 2 year old.")

With that said, I am here to to thank God for my son's teachable (and stubborn spirit) and for Babywise!! I've spent the past couple months walking along side of a few moms raising newborns and even friends with toddlers etc. I think about all the hard work we put in those first few months training our newborn and infant to sleep well and establishing our roles in the Lord. **Note: we are NOW working on training MANY other areas too... we have not arrived!!**

Last night about 4:45a, I awoke to a terrible noise on the monitor. John sat up and asked what in the world that noise is. I jumped out of bed and started listening. I looked at John and said "I think it's Benson." Mind you, yesterday Benson hurt his leg while Bright was chasing him with a toy drill.. I think he got it caught between the oven and the counter in the kitchen. So he spent a majority of the afternoon "crying" and limping around on 3 legs... milking it for all its worth. So the sound on the monitor was a terrible and LOUD screeching noise... I opened our bedroom door, ran across the house to find these little white paws sticking out under Bright's door. Benson HAS NEVER been locked in his room at night... I have no clue where he was hiding... but needless to say, I opened the door (which POPS very loudly) and let the cat out... Bright sat up, I said "it's still night night time"... closed the door... he rolled over and went back to sleep!! Wheew... those of you with kids know that noise anytime close to 5 can be wake time if you arent careful :)

Today I went out to the mow the lawn, John got back from working on a friend's car and Bright was down for his nap. I got back in after rinsing off, moved the wash to the dryer and sat on the recliner to read and chat with John... when all of the sudden we heard a TERRIBLE noise coming out of the monitor again. It sounded like a tug boat, airplane, motorcycle, airplane, race car and a choo choo train were plummeting through Bright's wall. After my heart stopped pounding out of my chest and John calmed down, I realized (WHICH IT IS GOING OFF RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE) that it is a Melissa and Doug wooden transportation puzzle that we inherited from some dear friends as they are returning back to SE Asia. It has proceeded to go off in his room for the past 78 mins... scaring me EVERY SINGLE TIME... it is light censored.. so every time a cloud passes in front of the sun.... Bright's room sounds like a bomb is going off!! Guess what? Bright is still sleeping SOOO very soundly... we could hear him roll over maybe 2 of the 15 times it has gone off... but every time, not a peep :)

So to all you moms who are struggling with whether or not you can last one more day trying to train your child to become a good sleeper.... DO IT, DO IT, DO IT :)

And to all us parents that are training our toddlers up in the Lord, lets remember all that hard work that we put in a couple years ago.... feeling like it was never going to get better.... this too shall pass, there will be fruit when we are faithful to raise our children as the Lord has commanded :)

Hope this made you smile... as hard as my heart pounds every time I hear those crazy noises... off to enjoy the rest of Bright's 3 hour nap time slot :)