Friday was the last day of school for my three kids.
As two of them teased each other, loudly and relentlessly, I muttered under my breath, “It’s going to be a long summer.”
Even the “happy mom” loses perspective sometimes.
I need to hear the words, Stay in the game mom!
When your kids ask to watch one more show (and you know it would save you time and energy), don’t give in.
Stay in the game mom!
When you ask your kids to do a few spelling words and a half hour of reading, and they complain and say none of their friends have to do that…
Stay in the game mom!
When you set goals for the summer like home improvement projects, decluttering closets, or lazy park days, but it just seems so hard to actually make it happen…
Stay in the game mom!
When you feel down because you’re working full-time and not making the memories with your kids that your friends seem to be making…
Stay in the game mom!
Summer is a special time to take a break from the rhythm of school, the demands of homework, and usually the family schedule loosens up a bit.
Here’s some advice that I heard recently that I’m going to follow this summer:
When you’re working, be 100% working. Don’t wonder about what your kids are doing while you’re at work. Don’t waste time and energy by feeling guilty. If you work from home, set a timer and work straight for an allotted period and then stop.
When you’re off, be 100% off. Make memories with your kids. Put your phone down. Bake cookies. Take walks. Ask questions. Watch good movies together and pop popcorn.
This is a hard balance. I get it! While I’m with my kids this week at a museum or a mall, I may be thinking about marketing my next book or what my giveaway will be in a few weeks. It’s takes effort to be fully present.
Sometimes when your kids are fighting or complaining, you’d rather escape to something else, anything that seems legitimate (like answering emails).
Keep telling yourself, Stay in the game mom!
Pray that God will give you patience for “love suffers long” as it says in 1 Corinthians 13. You may not “feel” like being patient, but love calls you to be patient.
I love the story my husband James tells. Years ago, when Ethan was a toddler, he said to James is a Realtor, “Dad, do you want to see my tower?”
The last thing James wanted to do was to look at Ethan’s tower. He wanted to keep working at his desk. But he knew the loving thing, the patient and long suffering thing, was to move from his work and look at his son’s tower.
Now little Ethan is in middle school, and I’m sure James is happy he took that moment to look at his tower.
Don’t miss these tower moments. We have a limited amount of summers with our kids before they sprout wings and fly to adulthood.
Take heart mom…gain perspective and number your days…and stay in the game.
