Things That Re-direct my parenting style…
May 27th, 2007 by jenzug
Ruthie: MOM! We’re playing hide and seek, but Thomas won’t stop counting!
Me: Did you ask him to stop?
Ruthie then turns to Thomas and begins screaming at him to stop (mind you, we are in the car).
Me: But you need to ask him without screaming at him. That’s not okay.
Ruthie (in a horrifically matter-of-fact tone): But mom, I have to scream at him because he’s not stopping.
At which point I smirk quietly to myself as Bryan throws his head back in that deep, bellowing, from-the-gut laugh that I love (but only when it’s not at my expense), and he says, “You are SO BUSTED!”
God bless Ruthie for being the mirror God uses to show me my own parenting flaws.
Be warned: what you see here is not my best work. It is what Anne Lamott describes in Bird By Bird as a series of “shitty first drafts.” Blogging dragged me kicking and screaming out of creative constipation by getting me to actually write. So I do that. A lot. Without worrying about every word choice or comma placement.
Want to know more? Read my full 
Again, even with a single statement, you have sent a reminder to me how God is using my child, who I love very much, but who also brings me to the brink of a place I don’t want to be at, that I am in need of a major overhaul in my emotional parenting. So, I thank you for that.