Today Sparky got a bad splinter. He made a great commotion over getting it out. Bhaer was meant to do it, cause his eyesight is better, but he was too tenderhearted and was taking too long with no success so I had to step in, hold Sparky down and quickly though I'm sure painfully scratch it out. Sparky thanked me immediately though when he realised that I had got it out in a couple of seconds, which was good after all the screaming.
I felt terrible. But it had to be done. And done quickly. I also felt bad because I lost my temper in the middle of it all and told my frightened child off.
What a terrible tightrope we walk as parents, doing things for a child's good that are painful at the time (shades of Hebrews 12:11) and having to work out when that discipline is warranted and when not, and how we should go about it. Sometimes we will make good decisions (like getting the splinter out) and sometimes bad(like losing my temper). Sometimes we will fail our children by being too indulgent or inconsistent, and at other times we will fail them by being overly rigid or unfair. Parenting requires the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon. Though I do recall that Job did do some complaining and Solomon did some foolish things.
And all I can do is keep trying to love as much as I can, apologise whenever I need to, and pray. hard.
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3 comments:
Yes, sometimes its not fun, and we behave very badly. But surely it is good to help our children to realise that we too fail them, and then apologise and show them how to set it right.
Oh, and the first time the Aviator got a splinter I just left it in as he wasn't bothered by it. It eventually worked its way out.
Ahhh, I can SO relate!!
I left a splinter in once as a child and it got infected - so I tend to be keen to get that splinter out....
Nice to know you both relate!
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