New Beginnings

I thank the Lord his mercies are new every morning. As you all know, parenting is physical/emotional EXERCISE and running with that analogy I've been at a "plateau" for a long time now. It's been a real struggle with Blake's poor eating habits and trinity's transition to a new school. Jeremy and I are buckling down with making Blake try new foods but he takes the teensiest bite and declares he can't stand it. Along with that we have his usual struggle with respecting momma and physical tantrums from letting emotions runs wild. Trinity has not made new friends in her new school and is really struggling socially. She is becoming the "class clown" to gain attention and it is causing trouble for her. My heart breaks when I see her lonely and struggling. She keeps up with her schoolwork but it takes much time and attention to get her to focus. She also is having more emotional outbursts from the stress of all the changes (the move, etc). I'm at my wit's end regularly. Our disciplines no longer seem to work with as much consistency or success. At Thanksgiving when mom was here we stopped by the Christian book store in Snoqualmie. She spied a book on the shelf she had been meaning to buy me called Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. IT IS AMAZING.
  












I can't believe this book was published in 98 and I am just now hearing about it. It is exactly the goal/future oriented take on parenting that I have always aspired to but never knew how to attain. It is proving to be practical and very applicable. I have read quite a few parenting books and most have just been a bore or (frankly) not very good. The examples are always extremes and the rules vague. This book is not at all like that. The focus is shaping your child's character in the now so that they function better in the future which seems obvious when you think about it but so hard to keep in mind in the moments when you are in parenting H E doublehockeysticks. (I know I am being melodramatic, they haven't even hit their teens, ha!)
On a similar note we all hear about new year's resolutions right? usually mine has to do with exercising. Well this year it is going to be enacting HOUSE RULES. Blake and trinity's punishments have always been relatively the same but sometimes I feel like they would benefit from them visually being up somewhere in the house as a reminder. Also, as they get older more responsibility must be built into their daily routines and interaction amongst their family. Chores are slowly being introduced and I feel a progress chart for these would encourage/remind them. I am eager to begin these in the new year along with my fresh outlook of how better to continue this non-stop roller coaster of raising my children. These ideas are not new and many of you already have some portion of these enacted in your home but it will be new for us and that along with the wonderful perspective given by Boundaries With Kids, give me hope that this new year will bring progress once again in the realm of parenting. One last thing. I am  trying to be more spontaneous with shows of affection for the children. It is not my natural way. Here is a snowflake I tucked into trinity's lunch the other day (she is TOTALLY OBSESSED with cutting out snowflakes lately). It made me smile making it and I hope she felt loved in her toughest environment (the dreaded school).