Parenting

Tonight I babysat for one of my most favorite families: the Cottrells! I love babysitting for their 4 kiddos because I have been with them for almost 4 years at our church and it is absolutely a joy to watch them grow up. Keaton wasn't even a sparkle in his parents eyes when I first met them, and now he is 2/nearly 2?!

Anyhoo, babysitting always reminds me of much I have to learn about parenting. How do you get a tired 4 yr old to eat their dinner? Do you treat them like their older siblings or how much grace do you extend? If they don't have a regenerate heart aka: aren't saved, then can I expect them to really be motivated by "obedience, which pleases God"? When are you tough, when are you compassionate and gracious, when do you give in, when do you discipline? How much attention do you give one child while there are 3 others there? When do you know if their tummy hearts or they are tired or crabby or just plain stubborn?

But, in spite of this scary reminder of my total ineptness at multi-child parenting, I am also reminded of how great it is to be with kids! We practiced rollerblading, and sharing our toys, and obeying the first time when asked, and using good manners, and talking kindly with one another. We also talked about how boys are "weird", but not totally weird because they are "helpful". We talked about how great it is to be a girl, in which one child pointed out girls got the plus of getting to have babies. They talked about all the things guys do to help us, including in full biblical style the words, "they get to lead us"...after which I reminded them that it is also their role to "follow"...it takes two to tango folks!

The night was not complete without a walk to the park up and down a number of hills (2 girls rollerblading, one little one pushing her babydoll in her stroller, and one kiddo in the stroller himself), fighting over who got to wear my rollerblading wrist guards and deciding who would push the button for the garage door opener, a duet/solo piano recital, coloring time, ice cream, song-singing-partial-movie-watching, and story-reading just as mom/dad were coming in the door. Ooops, they were 20 minutes late for bed! The night was topped off with a "speech" from the oldest daughter who told me in her speech she loved me, and then came over afterwards and said, "I really meant it; i love you." I even got some homemade artwork for my bedroom to prove it. Ahhh, the good life. I can't think of another way I would have wanted to spend my Friday night.