Loving Home. . the journey of mommy-hood

So... I've had quite a few conversations in the past week about being the mom of a school-aged daughter. My post last week about my struggle to know how to navigate Madison through this chapter of growing up has spurred me on the quest for Godly wisdom.. . and it seems I'm not alone on this journey. . if fact, it seems like it's pretty normal for Madison and I to go through this "stage" and pretty normal for me to not know what to do! She's wanting more freedoms.. .I'm still wanting a happy daughter who is joyful, respectful, kind, considerate of others, generous, and obedient "all the way, right away and with a happy heart"--as we say around our house.

Because so many of my friends are experiencing similar challenges in their homes and because so many of my friends have daughters and because we are all desiring to have LOVING HOMES, I thought I'd pass on the collective wisdom I've been gathering. . almost all of it from my mom!

First, PRAYER is key.  Here are the 2 scriptures that I'm praying for Madison.

". . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word life"  Phil. 2:12-16

". ..being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6

Secondly, involve DAD.  We're going to have a "family meeting" tonight.  Stephen is going to talk about being respectful to me and being obedient from the heart. He's also going to lay down some consequences.

The third strategy is CONSEQUENCES.  My mom said to plan on a few hard days of consistently enforcing the consequences, but then it'll get better. I've experienced that before when it comes to enforcing bed time, table manners, rude language, etc.  We're looking for the "currency" that will get through to our girl which is TV time and stuffed animals at the moment.  

We're also looking for some POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.  We're not settled on what this will be quite yet. Along those same lines, I want to make sure I'm making enough "deposits" with Madison so that she doesn't have to make a scene to get my attention!

I'm also going to re-evaluate which TV SHOWS are appropriate. We might need to cut back on some of our shows that are feeding the drama and childhood angst!!

Lastly, I'm going to be aware of GENUINE ISSUES VERSUS MANIPULATION.  In the heat of the moment, I'm going to try to patiently express understanding and empathy ("I know you're disappointed. I see that you're wanting greater freedoms, and I'm going to think about and talk to dad about how we can work this out. . "), and I'm also going to end it there. Conversation to be continued at another time in another setting. The end.

I want to be strategic in parenting, like Pastor Gregg says! With God's help, we will.

God is good and he promises us wisdom when we seek it. Thanks be to God for his WORD to give us LIGHT on this journey-step by step.

I'll let you know how it goes! If you have more strategies, send them my way! :)

My Baby Hope is ONE!!!

We had her party on Saturday at the park because she loves to SWING!

She really likes her new Dora car. . and her clothes and toys. Thank you to our sweet family!

This is the absolutely ADORABLE and DELICIOUS cake. We had a Strawberry Shortcake party, and this cake was strawberry with to-die-for cream cheese icing. Yummy!

Hopey was NOT shy about sticking her hands in and eating her cake!

She had fun sitting with Maw Maw and opening her presents.

It was a wonderful family party celebrating our girl! I truly can't believe that a year has flown by so quickly. Hope is such a happy, delightful little girl.  People are always asking me, "Is she always this happy?". And, yes, she is! She is so much fun to have around. She is a cuddler, she is curious, she is quick to learn and figure things out, she can communicate, she goes with the flow. . and she is altogether PRECIOUS!

I love you, Hopey!!!

Save the DRAMA for your MAMA

Oh, my goodness! My sweet Madison had a melt-down tonight. . of the "girly" sort. . I AM extremely sympathetic (as I am not immune to inexplicable melt-downs from time to time), but I AM still perplexed on how to handle it! Distract her? Talk it through? Firmly shut her down? Let her cry it out--alone? Try to cuddle and coddle her through it--despite her resistance to this? 

Tonight the initial issue was wanting to stay at church longer and not head home a little early (as my mommy instinct clearly knew we needed to do--and as was proved by the melt-down itself!).  But it quickly turned into "I never let her go her own way. I need to let her make more decisions. I don't listen to her. I don't understand her, etc.".  When we got home, and we continued our "conversation", it progressed to "She's 8 now. She needs adventure. She needs to explore the world. By herself." When I asked her how she would like to travel, she said that "she would travel on foot".

On and on it went. I wish I could have made notes as we talked so that I could remember all she said! Bless her heart. I finally decided our "conversation" was not very productive, and it was time to put her in bed. . . and she happily prayed with me and for me and said goodnight.

What??? After all that??? I am needing some major wisdom!! This is not the first time this has happened and I have a funny feeling it's not the last! :)

Anyone with words of advice or suggestions of books or strategies or scripture. . feel free to send it my way!

What a girl! Oh, the adventures of mommy-hood!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful GOOD FRIDAY in Friendswood. We did it all. . 

. . . dyed eggs

. . . had a hunt

. . . opened baskets

... . and took some beautiful bluebonnet pictures. Here are some individual shots. . . 

Here are our three. . 

This is our adorable nephew, Caden. . .

The baby cousins. . 

And all 4 cousins. . 

We also had a delicious meal with ham and all the yummy sides and desserts. My mom is amazing! :)

Saturday morning, the bunny made a visit to our house. Funny how he knows that Sundays are too early around here, but he's always managed to visit us on Saturday. We went to the park and had a relaxing day.

Sunday was a blessed day. God was good to give us grace and strength to lead. I'm so amazed at the way God is making Stephen ABLE to do the work He has given. We are so thankful and blessed! Our church family was so receptive and responsive to the Spirit, and they were ready to worship. Our service Sunday night at Ascend marked the end of services in the sanctuary as we currently know it. It's about to under-go a HUGE renovation. . .these are exciting times.

God is good. It's going to be a great week. Hope turns 1 on Thursday. . . can't help thinking about how life was a year ago. So much has changed. . . this life-thing sure is crazy sometimes.. . kind of hard to understand.  The only ROCK is Jesus. He's been so faithful and good to me. Happy Easter!

BLOG CLOG

This blog is officially clogged. Life is so great and there are so many things to talk about. Time, however is in short supply for now! More to come later. For now...armoire!!!!

Madison is 8!

Here's the run-down on Madison's B-Day Celebrations. . .

Thursday morning, we had our traditional birthday breakfast.. . she loved it!

At lunch, we delivered cupcakes to the 2nd graders at FBA. They announced her name on the cafeteria microphone. It was so sweet!

Thursday night we ate supper at home then went to McDonald's to play and have an ice cream cone. 

On Saturday we had a family party at the HFBC bowling alley! Madison felt so loved on and so special. It was really fun for everyone.

Tonight I interviewed her about life as an 8 year old. . .Here's a snap-shot into Maddie's world.

What was the best part about being 7? Getting to go to people's houses by myself.

What was the hardest part about being 7? Having to deal with my little brother!

What advice to you have for someone who's turning 7? Have fun!

What is one thing you learned about God last year? That He will be with you all your life. And I asked Jesus into my heart because of that on one Friday night.

What is one thing you learned about yourself last year? That I'm confident to go spend the night and to interact with new things.

What surprised you last year? All the friends I made.

What is the most exciting thing you did last year? Go to NRH2O with all the kids.. . and getting a little sister! That's been my life long dream--to get a little sister.

What are you most looking forward to as an 8 year old? Going to 3rd grade and seeing what that's like.

What will be your greatest challenge? Having to deal with both a little brother and sister!

What is the most important thing about being a daughter? Having fun with my mom and dad.

What is the most important thing about being a Christian? Following God's Word and learning to hear God speaking to you and following Him.

What is the most important thing about being a sister? Have to look out for all the little kids.

What is your favorite subject? music

What is your favorite restaurant? Pei Wei

What is your favorite food?macaroni

What is your favorite song? Here I am to Worship?

What is your favorite band? The Smith Band and Jesus Freaks {Madison and Hannah's Band}

What is your favorite TV show? Fairly Odd Parents and Sponge Bob

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend? Hang out with my family

Friday

We had a delicious and fun Friday night. Can you say "2 desserts"? Well, that's how it ended. It started with a stop at Houston's to eat. Now, I absolutely love their grilled chicken salad with that peanut dressing. Oh, my goodness! But. . not exactly a place for a family of 5.  . . so we left there and went to Amazon Grill. Now--it is in the restaurant family with America's and Churrasco's--2 of my all-time favorite Houston eateries--and it did not disappoint. 

We ordered 2 kids meals, 2 entrees, and a dessert--their delightful table-top smores maker. It is so yummy! Well, then, we discovered that the kids meals come with (drum roll, please) GRAPE COTTON CANDY. Wow! It was actually really tasty. . .so we just basked in our sugar high. Happy Spring Break to us! :)

Jackson thoroughly enjoyed the smores, and was fascinated with the fire. Are all boys little pyros? He really only wanted to burn the marshmallows--eating then was just not necessary!

On the way home, in the context of a conversation I'll spare you, I said "What do you think it will be like to ride in the car with one of your own friend's driving?" Now, this is new conversation territory--we haven't talked about this before that I can remember. Jackson's immediate response was "No. I'll be driving MY friends. They can ride with ME!" What is it with boys and driving?

I'm reading Dobson's Bringing Up Boys, and I am (again) amazed at God's design of boys--my boy! He is in the stage where he continually identifies with Stephen as a male. He says it all the time---"Dad, we're boys. Mom, Maddie, and Hope-y are girls. We're boys." This is completely new and wonderful territory, and I am savoring my front-row seat to the unfolding of the way God designed my little boy!

We're having Madison's 8 year old B-Day party tomorrow. I just can't believe that she's actually 8!! I'll have an "8 is Great" post real soon with all the party pics!