~ Logistically Large ~

I've been a parent for almost 21 years.

 

And I'm still learning.

I personally think parenting is something that never stops teaching you, making you think, wonder, stress, pray, and hopefully laugh.

My 7 year old daughter Avarie was building a fort downstairs with her 5 year old brother Ezra and little sister Marlee who recently turned 3. As I graded school papers I listened to Avarie become more bossy by the second. I decided enough was enough and I went downstairs and brought her up to our time out spot. I explained how nasty she sounded to her younger siblings and she needed a time out to calm down before going back to playing. I returned to my seat and became distracted with Science questions. Several minutes passed and I went to check on Avarie, but in her place sat Ezra instead! Reading the surprised look on my face he quickly explained that he and Marlee weren't able to continue their fort, they needed Avarie, so he came up to take her time out for her. He went on to tell me he would take her full 7 minutes instead of his normal 5 since he was taking her place.

What do you do with that?

Even after years of parenting I still have situations come up that surprise me and I'm not 100% sure how to handle them.

I decided to let Ezra off time out and talk to Avarie about how her actions, good or bad, effect others.

 

There are times I feel good about how I handle a situation and other times, especially with my teens, I pray I made the right decision. Parenting is hard! I have never laughed or cried so much over anything more.

 

There was a point in time I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to be a parent. As hard as this job can be, as serious or trivial as the problems may be, I am so, so thankful to have been blessed to be a parent.