Daddy Love

This morning I overheard a conversation between my husband and my 3 year old. My son was expressing his undying affection for his daddy. It went something like this:

I'm so ANGRY!

picture by graur razvan ionut

"Ahhhhh!  It's not fair!"  Sometimes our children are better at expressing their anger than we are.  However we often shut them down instead of applauding and training them.

We all know (most of us by experience!) that "man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires" (James 1:20, NIV).  Most of us have also heard, "the truth will set you free" (Jn. 8:32).  What to do, then, when the truth is that we're mad?!

A Child's Prayer

I was snuggling my son before bed when he told me he wanted to pray silently, "in my heart." We both closed our eyes and he was quiet for a long time. Well after my mind started to wander, I peaked and saw that his eyes were still shut.

Limits

Limits come in many shapes and sizes.  I’m limited by how many hours I can go without sleeping, how much money I have, the number of friends I can talk to in a day, the places I can go with a sensitive child, and so on.  You get the idea. 

Many view limits as a necessary evil.  In reality, they are an expression of love; an opportunity for grace, growth and accepting help.

Loving the Unlovable

We all have people in our lives that seem unlovable.  It is particularly challenging when these are ones we "should" love.  When someone close to me makes my life difficult, it is tempting to throw in the towel. 

Letter to the Birth Mother

BY: Christine White

     I've never seen your actual face, only evidence of it in your daughter, my daughter, our child.  I can't tell you my thoughts.  I don't know your name or address-- only the child you carried in your belly, who you passed through your uterus and into this world.  Sometimes, I think we are like the two chambers of her heart.  You made the blood and the muscle of her heart, but I keep the blood flowing and feed her 24/7 love. 

Confessions

So, I was at my chiropractor's the other day, and she was trying to make me feel better about having been irritable with my kids.  She says to me, "We all have mommy moments.  Last night I bit my daughter's elbow."  What?!  My first response was, "How dysregulated do you have to be to bite your child. . . on the elbow?"  Then she tells me, "That was going to be the last time she stuck her elbow in my mouth!" 

Favorite One-liners

Sometimes when you're in a pinch, you just need a quick little something to get you through.  Here are my current favorites:

• "Be here now." 

(From the teachings of mindfulness, which encourage you to stay in the moment.)

Helping Your Child Overcome Anxiety

Understand the Problem
The first thing to understand when helping your child with their anxiety, is where it comes from.  Any state of distress, in children or adults, is caused by the body's inability to regulate itself.  In times of stress, the body will become either over or under aroused.  In other words, it will shut down, as in depression, or rev up, as in anxiety.