Practice what you preach Mama

It's been a tough week! Lots of yelling and fighting going on with the kiddos. I know its a normal part of summer but we've been working on speaking a different langue in this house these days, love more, yell less. This came as part of a major overhaul in our life the last few years. To our kids, this came naturally, in fact our adorable 4 year old came to this earth wired for this. She can express her feelings way better than most adults I know. The day I started the Orange Rhino Challenge, she giggled and said "Mama, Mama, yell ORANGE RHINO again." She came up with a color code of rhinos to express her emotions; Blue Rhino=Sad, Pink Rhino=happy, Orange Rhino=kinda mad, Red Rhino=Very angry, Yellow Rhino=just regular.

This morning while I was cleaning my room she was jumping on my bed and throwing my pillows. I turned and snapped "Sister stop!" to which she responded in her most polite voice, "Mom if  you say; Sister would you please stop jumping on my bed and put my pillows down, I would be happy to stop." This stopped me in my tracks because those were my words. I say that to her constantly. She even had my tone of voice down. Later, as we were eating breakfast, Brother and Lil Sissy were bickering, Big Sissy was sad and crying, and Baby Sis was starving (and screaming so I didn't forget her). Overwhelmed, I stormed out of the room to nurse Baby Sis, I sat on the couch and Lil Sis came in to "cuddle" to witch I snapped "back off Sissy, I need my space!" She sat back with shock on her face and said "Mama your not being very loving!" I defensively responded "I just need my space." She looked at me with love in her beautiful eyes and said "you said mean words and I just wanted to cuddle" so...we cuddled.

Cuddling after Baby Sis fell asleep.

This is just one example where my kids have reminded me to practice what I  preach. My stress level is no excuse to go from orange to red rhino without warning, especially when my kids are just being kids. I'm blessed with forgiving kids who love me as much as I love them. FORGIVENESS is a huge word in our life.

Big Sis was clearly overwhelmed by her chores today as she tried to unload the dish washer she kept running back into the room, where I was once again feeding baby sis, to hug me. I could feel my annoyance building and wanted to tell her to stay in the kitchen. Then...I realized this was her way of checking in. Of grounding herself in order to finish an overwhelming task. I now look forward to those adorable little hugs as she works on doing hard things. How lucky am I to receive such a gesture.

The last example of Christ like love in our home today was when Lil Sissy was very upset because Big Sis wouldn't play with her. As she left the room she cried "nobody will play with meeee!" Brother said quietly, "Sissy, you didn't ask everyone." a few min later I walk in to find Big Bro playing princesses with her. What greater act of love could I ask for?

"Brother you can even be a Medieval Knight if you want" 

 Tonight after all the yelling, fighting, tackling, toy throwing, and time outs, I am grateful for my kids and my Savior. Through them I will become the Mama they deserve, the Mama I know I can be, and the Parent I hope they can someday be.