'Tis the season for Gratitude...and I have a LOT to be grateful for! I am blessed with two wonderful boys, a husband who is a great father and partner, great friends, plus so much more. This morning while taking a bath and reflecting on what I am thankful for, I found myself appreciative for a few items that I had not expected to EVER be grateful for! So I thought I would share...
Today, I realized that I am grateful for...
The boys arguments. Through these arguements, Alex and Owen learn anger and conflict management, negotiation, and relationship skills in the safety of our family.
Yelling at my children. Sometimes yelling has helped my children understand boundaries. Other times, after hearing myself, I have realized that my patience was too thin, and then purposely took time to re energize myself. Still other times, my yelling at my boys, has prompted a good conversation with my husband about how we want to raise our boys. These conversations, always leads to insights and great ideas of how we both can be better parents.
Alex's Low Apgar Scores and Owen's Emergency Ambulance Ride. After both of my sons were born, we dealt with medical issues that were scary and no fun. Alex was a barely whimpering grayish-blue baby at birth, due to the umbilical cord being wrapped tightly around his neck. And Owen, seven hours after birth, stopped breathing and was rushed to another hospital. During both of these situations I found a strength that I never knew I had. Instead of wondering "why me" or "what if..." or having thoughts od doom and gloom, I tuned into my intuition and followed my gut feeling of "everything is going to be fine." Every time, during those experiences, that I had those dark, unhappy thoughts I would quickly and consciously replaced them with "I am going with my gut...Everything is going to be OK." By doing that, in those moments, I was able to be clear-headed and there for my babies. Since those experiences I have continuted to tune into my intuition regularily. It is an amazing skill that I am EXTREMELY grateful for!
My parenting mistakes. My mistakes, like when I punished my son for something that I later learned he hadn't done, or when I accidentally shut the rear hatch of my SVU on my other sons' head (OUCH!!!! I felt SO bad!), has given me the opportunity be apologize. I am grateful that my sons know that I am human and like them, I too make mistakes.
I must admit that feeling grateful for agruing children, me screaming, medical scares, and awful mistakes feels a bit odd.
But through each of these experiences, the lessons I have learned - both big and small - are invaluable! And, I am reminded of the fact that the flaws it life, are often times the most precious.
What are you Unexpectedly Grateful for?
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