Happy Momma's Day

From Brad. Okay, I add to this blog once every couple of years, so enjoy (or skip :) ).

Amy is a wonderful hard-working Mother. I respect her in so many ways, but especially in the area of raising and training our kids. From day one she (we) set high expectations for their behavior and tried to consistently discipline them. Of course we have done this together, but the reality is (and this is true for most families), the Mother has quite a bit more 'face-time' or interaction with their kids. Thus their ability to impact their kids behavior/thinking is relatively higher. Plus, I admit my own temptation (maybe for many men) to somewhat 'check-out' or 'accomplish other things' when they are with the kids, rather than carefully notice the manner in which they are acting/talking/behaving around each other, and see it as an opportunity to teach/train/disciple. I'm thankful for a wife that LOVES this job and has done a GREAT job to this point. Our kids are certainly not perfect, but after almost 6 & 8 years of working with them, I see godly, submissive character being formed in them and they are the joy of their Father's heart. We see the need for disciplining them decreasing like Ted Tripp said should happen and thank our Father above for His Grace in their lives, especially as He has used their Mother.

I think the stereotype is that the Father is the strict, firm disciplinarian who cracks the whip and is feared by the kids, whereas the Mom is the softy who the kids know they can manipulate and get away with much more (than when around their Father). Amy is not soft and she is not easily manipulated. Her spankings have always been hard and effective. When the boys got a little older, and her spankings weren't as effective, she started giving two swats (or giving me the full-time job in this area). But although Amy has been a firm disciplinarian, she has never been a 'angry' or 'abusive' disciplinarian. For the most part, she has disciplined our kids with self-control and with instruction and reconciliation as the ultimate goal. She also saw the discipline process as a great opportunity to bring in the 'good news' from our Father above.

So since I've praised my wife and kids, I'll share a little of our Mother's day with you which will evidence the continuing need for parenting that our kids have. As you can imagine, since Amy is so busy with homeschooling our kids, and doing things with them, it is a real treat for her to get some time away. For Mother's day, the kids and I cooked breakfast for her and gave her the morning off. We went shopping for a new blender and went to buy some flowers for her, while she relaxed in a quiet home with a book. The flowers we bought were about $4.50 so I mentioned in passing to Savannah on the way home that she'll need to cover $1.50 of it (in the hearing of the other two) which she was happy to do (she expected as much). Well as we entered the home, Peter was holding the flowers. We all walked in and yelled 'happy mother's day'. After she thanked us, I mentioned to Amy that the kids bought these flowers with their own money. Peter (holding the flowers) quickly corrected me and said, "Savannah paid $1.50, but Alex $3.00". A little surprised, I asked him, "What? Peter you have plenty of money, don't you want to spend $1.50 to bless your Mom with these flowers?" "Nope," he replied with a straight, serious face, "really don't want to waste my money. Rather let Alex and Savannah buy them." Shocked (and slightly laughing) Amy said, "Peter, $1.50 is not that much, you just spent $1.50 at the park the other day riding rides." He replied, "I know, so I really don't want to waste money on flowers!"

Well, still lots of training to do, parents work is never quite done is it? Our kids are new to dealing with money and I don't suspect Peter had the slightest clue he was being rude. So he has now been 'educated' in this area, and hopefully this will not happen again. But I must confess, our first reaction was to completely crack up. The brutal honestly of a 6 year old can really be funny (at times).

Hope you enjoyed the annual post. See you in 2012.