I have a confession to make. My children were monsters the other day at the grocery store.
There, I said it. You know, the kind you might have seen a few times in your life and inwardly cringed. Maybe you even gave the mom a disapproving look and wondered why she wasn’t “handling” her children.
They were pulling things off of the shelf and running away from me (sometimes right into restricted areas) while laughing, like the whole thing was just a hysterical joke.
Okay I should clarify..my older two were doing something far worse. Maybe not worse…more irritating. They were arguing. Arguing incessantly. Bickering. Fighting. Getting on each other’s nerves. Yelling. Teasing. Shall I go on?
Altogether it made for a very unpleasant trip to the store. As I drove home with the monsters in tow, I secretly vowed to never take them out again. Ever.
Then the next day I had a temporary lapse of judgement and took them back out, this time to a restaurant. In true Jekyll and Hyde fashion, as only children can do, they sat quietly conversing and coloring, said, “Thank you” to the waitress when she placed a drink in front of them, and ate with their best table manners.
A woman sitting at a table nearby, upon getting up to leave, stopped at our table to say that she was a retired teacher who had spent a lot of time with children. She said that she thought they were so well-behaved. At one point she even looked directly at me and said, “Good job, mom.”
All at once I felt like crying and laughing. The voice inside my head kept reminding me of the craziness at the grocery store only the day before. If only she knew. But another part of me was grateful for the small piece of encouragement.
As we drove home, the thought crossed my mind that if that woman from the restaurant spent any length of time around my children, she just might decide how fraudulent her observations in that moment seemed. But it doesn’t really matter because here’s what I took away from it all.
I see much of parenting as being about repetition and consistency. Consistency is the commitment to doing something even when you’re not seeing optimal results. In other words, I am committed to a process.
This is very much like the Christian faith. We are encouraged to stay the course. 1 Corinthians 15:58 reads, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (ESV)
Galatians 6:9 reads, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (ESV)
Being consistent doesn’t mean there will never be “off”days. But our restaurant moment reminded me to remain consistent about teaching my children, making expectations clear, and correcting them when necessary.
In the process I am learning that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness, and that yes, I can survive the emotional whims of three year old monsters…sorry, twins. Some days “survival” looks pretty bleak, but other days, God will send people to remind me that I am doing a “good job.” Nevertheless, I will remain consistent.
This gave me encouragement and I hope it encourages you too. Stay the course because the glory, fellow mamas, is in the journey, not the finish.
