Grace – It’s Needed – Day 6 {Intentional Parenting}

It’s 9:03 am. And you were wishing it was 9:03 pm. Already the cereal was spilled with milk in the bowl all over your freshly washed floors, the little ones are fighting, there’s nothing for you to pull out for dinner, it’s rainy, and a Monday, you’ve got some bills to pay, the clean house that you worked on over the weekend now looks like you never clean at all, the baby is crying, and your lack of sleep due to wonderful allergies is making you tired, there’s no coffee to be found, and you have at least a week’s worth of laundry to do, and you are there, standing in the midst, thinking nothing about being an intentional parent right now, but rather just about surviving.

I know. That paragraph above has been many a Monday for myself. Personally, I like to refer to them as the pull all your hair out days or when you want to throw in the towel days.

Motherhood is hard.

It’s easy to get caught up in the journey of the perfect idea of being mom. Remember Day 1 Awake? If there are two things that you walk away with from these ten days it’s that there is no perfect parent and truly it is by grace, the grace of God, that we get through and thrive during these parenting years. Here’s the deal –

You are the perfect mother for your children.

I am not talking about being perfect, but rather that you are exactly the mother that your children need. I’ve written about this before {dear tired mom}, but I think it needs to be addressed. Again.  It’s easy to look at what others are doing, their successes, and then try to take that idea and try to implement it in your home. Think about the rows and rows and rows and rows of parenting books at Barnes and Nobles – while they are filled with excellent ideas {many of them} not one works perfectly in our home. My children are not the author’s children. Your children are unique to your family.

So you need to have grace. For yourself.

Those days when chaos explodes? They don’t define you as a parent. And they certainly don’t make you less of an intentional parent. In fact, I will argue that the discipline it takes to get through a challenging day, week, or month, takes incredible intentionality. You must be focused, you’re pulling from little reserves, and it would be easier to quit.

But, you don’t quit. You keep going.

And that, don’t you forget it, is amazing. You keep going when there’s vomit on the floor or your shirt, when the toddler potty-training missed-again, when you’ve only got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, when the four year old decides to have a tantrum like a two year old, when your husband works late, and the friend stops over when your house is a terrible mess, and you haven’t seen the shower in days. You keep going.

Look at that. That’s determination. Spunk. Intentionality.

Give yourself grace.

*****
Today, in the journal, I’ve got questions helping you to define ways in which you can redeem the hard day. This day, along with Day 2 will serve as encouragement and options for you during those hard parenting moments. I’ve also included 20 options to do to interrupt a challenging day. Sometimes you just need to step back, adjust the schedule, and just start again. And, if all else fails, simply do one thing. One thing. You can do that.

And, for your family, when you’re not having a challenging day, it’s best to work with your children to identify ways in which you’re going to deal with that day. Take time with them to work on writing five things that they can do to help you and the family on these days. This list will serve as a go-to guide during those challenging times.

Tomorrow I’ll be sharing with you a post called In and Out – Pondering their hearts. This post truly gets to the heart of intentional parenting. Hope to see you then!

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