The Unwritable List

I do so many things wrong as a mother that I couldn't even begin to write a list, which is saying alot for a chronic list writer. If I start to compile this unwritable list in my head and begin to think on all the mistakes i'm making in raising my children I would probably overload in more ways than one. So this is how i'm going to approach this...ghost list. I'm going to try and pick just one or two issues at a time and focus on improving in those areas. So to start.....one area that is in the forefront of my mind this morning is showing my kids that I care. And I dont' mean in general, I'm pretty sure my kids know that I love them. I'm talking about caring about the little things. Like when Gabriel needs to tell me in the longest way possible about how he can do a new "double jump" and then wants to show me. Rather than give him a quick smile and say "i'm busy right now, show me later" or even tell him to hurry up and finish telling me about it, I am going to try very hard to stop whatever "important" task i'm doing and show him how very interested I am in what he's going to tell me. He needs to know that He is my world at that moment and that nothing could interest me more than what he's telling me. I often rush him through a story or even make him follow me as i'm doing work around the house. I really need to work on stopping what i'm doing and focus on him fully!

Another area that has been pulling at me is my Noah and his cuddles. All of my children are cuddly children. They all love their snuggles and always have. I have been noticing alot lately that Noah needs even more cuddles than Gabe and Lily do. This is hard to imagine as Gabe and Lily are so super snuggly as it is. Noah needs constant physical attention, is is always asking for another hug. I had let myself fall into the mentality that they were all in the same "cuddley kids" category, but really Noah is in a different category, "super cuddly kids". Its easy for me to give him a quick pat on the back and send him on his way because i'm busy with something. I know that I need to work on stopping what i'm doing, getting on his level and really hugging him. I need to show him that I want all those hugs just as much or more than he does.

There are so many things I need to change and improve as a mother. Maybe if I can keep focusing on just a couple areas at a time, by the time I go home I will have shortened that list.....even just a little.

"...you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you;.." Isaiah 66: 12b, 13