Crazy World

When I start to doubt myself-- my beliefs, sanity, or method of doing things, all I have to do is read some headlines and I can settle with "I'm doing all right."

This occurs again today, as I've pondered the strain of our military life, the several moves (this is my 30th; Boy has been through 6 in his 13 years and Girl has been through 4 in her 11 years of life), and the world into which I'll have to release my grown children.

T0day one of the contractors was out doing some work here, after the homeschool group meeting up at the district where the kids formerly were schooled, and he was telling a story about something that happened recently in a parking lot. He was just trying to park in a mostly empty lot, near a restaurant window so he could keep an eye on his vehicle. Common sense. Some older girl freaked out on him, apparently, and shortly after that her boyfriend/husband (or whatever he was) got there and started chewing him out right away without knowing what was going on. Then the kicker comes-- with all this rude behavior by adults, a 6-year-old gets out of the car (from boyfriend/daddy) and starts also swearing at the contractor!

Six-years-old! And this little guy thinks it's not only okay to swear, but to treat another person with disrespect!

My son overheard part of the story. Before we left to go eat dinner, my Boy came up to me and kissed me on the forehead (he's taller than I am, now) and said, "I love you, Mom." and I replied with, "Only because I feed you!" and I tussled his hair and smiled. We know the truth. We're family and we love each other. Then, on the drive, before we even got off the dirt road, Boy said, "Mom, thanks for being the kind of mom you are." Confused (partly because of low blood sugar, partly because I was focused on driving, and partly because this came totally out-of-the-blue), I asked him what he meant. He said that he was very glad I have taught him to not be like that 6-year-old; that I've taught him to be respectful.

It's moments like that where my children teach me! It's more than just an encouragement, it's letting me know that I'm doing the right thing! That a teenager can verbalize a 'concept' is amazing in itself (from a parent and psychological standpoint); when one factors in "special needs" of learning delays and communication problems, it becomes more amazing. Whatever it is I'm doing, it's working. My kids can carry on a conversation on a variety of subjects (it's pretty funny listening to them talk to each other about 'serious' subjects), they treat others with respect and common courtesy, and they really do try their best to be helpful at home. I'm already getting thanked by them, verbally, for not letting them do what "everyone else" gets to do-- like play video games without limits, watch t.v., etc. They have thanked me, basically, for caring enough to be involved in training them how to be a person. How many parents ever get that verbal "thank you," much less while the training is still occurring?!

That doesn't mean we're on Easy Street. My Boy still gets mad at me when I tell him to do his dishes for the 3rd (or 5th) time, or that he really needs to take a shower because he smells bad. My girl still gets upset when I repeat for the ump-teenth time "get to work" for her assignments, or when I tell her she needs to cut back on the sweets and eat more nutritious food. There's still raging hormones and sometimes there's attitude problems. But overall, we're a functioning family-- we help each other with words and actions.

How many people are grateful for the fire that cleanses while going through it? For the fever that kills the sickness?

Perhaps I'm on a soap box. More likely, it's just that I'm already a proud Mama! And while I train my children, I keep my eyes on what is happening in the world-- the bombings, the violence (seriously, pepper-spraying people over a game console???), the collapsing world economy, and I use it to help guide how I train my children. History teaches that societies cycle through good and bad, and after the bad it gets worse. I'm trying to help prepare my children for the "worse" part, and to be grateful if it's not.

It's a Crazy World out there, but my contribution to the world will be two, well-adjusted, free and capable individuals who are ready to contribute positively to their communities and societies. Well, that's what I'm hoping for, anyway.

~Cedeham~