Grace Based Parenting

Grace is freely given to us on a daily bases by God.  But what is grace?  What does it look like to put grace into practice in our lives?  If God gives it freely to us then we should be extending it to others as well.

Grace is a word so often thrown around and I know what it means, but I had never really studied or thought about the grace offered to me and how I offer grace to others.

One of my bible study groups just finished Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel.  This book outlines the principles of what grace is and how we can apply that to our parenting.

This book reinforces the idea that there are no checklists in parenting. Each child is different, but each child is created by God.  So the only “manual” you need is the Bible and a firm relationship with God.  He will provide the guidance you need.

A huge “aha” moment for me throughout the book was to take stock of our reactions as parents.  Are you reacting to something your child is doing because he is actually sinning (such as disobeying, hurting someone, being disrespectful, etc) or are they just embarrassing you?

It’s so easy to “lash out” at our children not because they are doing anything wrong but because they are being different and it is embarrassing to us.  These are times when we need to extend them grace and allow them to be who they are…God does.

Do you  have a child who could use some grace from you?  I’m sure we all do.  I highly recommend this book to parents of all ages.  I believe this will be one I reread as the teenage years approach!

I found the book to be a little slow for the first four chapters or so when the text deals with outlining the whole concept of grace, but I could also have felt this way because I was reading the book hoping for some defined checklist of what needed to be done to be a “grace filled parent”.  That’s not how parenting works.  There is never going to be a checklist…let it go:)  All you need is God.  But by the middle of the book I was hooked and found it to be really interesting and insightful. 

I challenge you to read it and think about how you show grace as you parent.  I know this book has helped me rethink through some of my reactions and thoughts as a parent.

Can’t Sleep

I had trouble getting to sleep last night.  The reason: I was contemplating my son’s attire.  This is a completely unreasonable reason to not be sleeping, but it didn’t matter how often I told myself this I was still plagued with thoughts of Corbin’s clothes.

First, I am having major issues with his pants.  They fall down all the time.  Then if I go smaller in the waist (like 12 month size!!) they are super short and he looks ridiculous.  Blah!

Then his shirts are becoming too short with 24 month size.  So we tired a 2T and the length is better but he’s so tiny that they look big on him. 

So lately Corbin has been styling some short pants with large shirts…oh my the problems;)

Yup, so I laid awake contemplating the problem.  Do I buy bigger shirts or let them be short?  Do I buy bigger pants so they’re long but they fall down, or do I have pants that fit that are too short?

Really there are no good options here and although I debated this in my mind for a good 45 minutes (when I should have been sleeping) I still don’t have a decision and now I’m tired. 

Oh well, I’ll continue to contemplate the situation and if I have any brilliant breakthroughs I’ll keep you all posted.

Wordless Wednesday

Read To Me Please

Corbin has discovered two great new books that he loves to read. 

First is, We Are in a Book by Mo Willems.  This is a delightful read about an elephant and a pig that discover they are the subject of a book.  The personalities of these two animals are represented well through the pictures and text and are very entertaining.  This would be a great book for beginning readers due to the small amount of text, easy vocabulary, and engaging storyline.

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The other book is a wordless picture book titled The Umbrella by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert.  Using beautiful illustrations the reader is taken on a journey over different landscapes with a dog who finds a flying red umbrella.  The reader is taken to the desert, ocean, island, and snow covered mountains where a variety of adventures are encountered.  Although there are no words this book captures the imagination and would be a great choice for all age readers.

Snow Day

 

“Why am I out and what am I standing in?”

“Oh right, it’s snow. Let’s check this stuff out.”

“Hey, it’s not bad.”

“Bring it on snow.  I am ready to conquer your coldness.”

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

“Roses are red.  Violets are blue.”

 

Corbin wants to say…

 

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

 

                 Love Corbin

Camera please

We were playing in Corbin’s room the other day when he requested I get the camera.  Whaaaat??

I asked him to repeat what he had said and then I repeated it back to him just to make sure he really had asked for the camera…and he had!

Apparently he was feeling in the mood to pose it up for the camera.  I don’t even try to figure out his thought process any more…crazy boy:)

So, what do you get when your child asks to have his picture taken…

“Arrr, matey, this is my pirate look for ye Mommy.”

“Yo, yo, what’s up!  Corbin is in the house.”

“Cheeeeeezzzz!!”

“Senior High School photo practice shot – take 1.”

It was so fun and funny to see him sit in that chair and create different faces for me all on his own doing. 

Oh Corbin, you are too entertaining sometimes!

Bridge Builders

There are two bridge builders at our house…

Chris and I.  (Corbin is the overseer:)

Based on the above pictures it seems as if Chris and I have two very different bridge designs. 

Chris’ bridge is the first one pictured.  It’s stable, well constructed, and can hold up to many minutes of play.

Mine is the bridge at the bottom.  It’s tall, rickety, and lasts for about 2 seconds of play.  However,  it does allow for trucks, planes, and buses to pass under because of its massive height ;)

I do believe that Corbin prefers stability over height.  I’m rarely asked to build a bridge and if I am it’s because I’m the only one home and he’s desperate for a bridge.  This does not happen often.

But that’s ok, I’ll let Daddy be the official bridge builder of the house.  I don’t mind…really, I don’t mind:)

Backseat Driver

I have a 22 month old backseat driver in my car on a daily basis.  I don’t know really what to think about the whole situation.  I have someone telling me how to drive when I’ve been driving longer than he’s been alive.  But the truth of the matter is sometimes I listen to him and wonder if his advice is actually correct…what’s wrong with me!!

Corbin likes to go under bridges, so if he sees one he directs me to go under the bridge.  We don’t always have to go under a bridge to get to where we are going but he doesn’t seem to catch the concept.  One time he wanted to go under the bridge and I’m like no not this time when in fact I stopped, thought, and remembered that we did indeed need to go under the bridge.  I had forgotten where we were going!  Score one for the backseat driver.

At stop lights, regardless of the color, Corbin says “go, mommy”.  I’m trying to teach him that red is stop and green is go.  He’s slowly getting this concept, but at times I have to actually stop and think if I should be going because I have someone saying “go, go, go” in the backseat. It’s like having a bully in the backseat.  Unprotected left turns have actually become a thoughtful action now because I’m telling Corbin it’s green and we can go, but we can’t really if there’s a car coming….yikes!

And finally whenever we leave someplace I am often directed to “go home”.  However, sometimes we still have other places to go and cannot go home.  When I tell Corbin this, I get a list of other places that he would like to go: namely the park and church.  Oh sad day when those aren’t on the list either.  Although on occasion if it’s a nice day I have been persuaded to drive to the park and play.  Corbin is a very good negotiator:)

To sum up my experience: backseat driving is only fun for the person in the backseat.

Flashback Friday

Corbin has rekindled his love for shoes.  He was on a big kick about 5 months ago and he’s at it again.  So although this isn't flashing back much (but really he’s not even 2 years old, so flashback is a relative term :) here is Corbin trying on Daddy’s shoes at about 17 months and then today.

He really hasn’t changed in appearance much in 5 months.  But he sure can say and do a lot more!

Oh and don’t worry my shoes were not overlooked.  He tried mine on too...equality is valued at our house;)

What the What

Photographic evidence I used a sewing machine!

What the what?!?

I have not attempted this since a 7th grade home economics class.  I was trying to create a quiet book for Corbin and, though I successfully sewed on some parts of the book, I only got a little bit done so I have no finished project to show off.

To be really honest I probably won’t ever have a finished project to show off.  I was participating in a crafting afternoon with some friends, so I was inspired to create with them.  Left on my own, I am not a big crafter. 

Ladies, are you in for another craft day?  I need some inspiration to finish. :)