I really love the payback of becoming a parent. It's truly rewarding to see my greatest flaws smacking me right dab in the face. My parents always told me, "Leigh, you just have the I wants! I want this, I want that! Want, want, want." The torch has now been passed. It's my turn to deal with my own little genetically wounded reproductions! Eh, it's not always so bad. I think it may be easier, though, if we live with at least a dose of reality and admit we're all flawed. It is what it is.
Ben: "What's that list over there?"
Me: "It's Laurian's list of songs on her ipod. She just wrote them in a fancy font on the computer and decided to tape it on that piece of furniture."
Ben: "Oh. Because I thought it was a list of things she wanted, and I was like, I've been wanting a lot of things for a long time now, and if she gets those things ,well that's not gonna' be fair."
Me: "Nope. It's just her list of songs that she already has on her ipod."
Ben: "Man...I want a lot of things. I just wish, like, I just wish I could have all the things I wanted and like, life would be sooooo easy."
Me: "Not necessarily, Ben. Getting everything you want could actually be really harmful. It's not realistic and life doesn't work that way. We don't get everything we want, and life isn't always easy. We have to learn to deal with it. It is what it is."
Ben: "But, I mean, like, if I had everything I wanted I wouldn't want anything else...and then I'd stop bugging you."
Me: "Here's the deal, Ben. God created us to need and to want. He wants us to desire what is ultimately good for us all. And Ben, what He really wants is for us to realize our need for Him and for us to want Him most of all."
Ben: "Ooooohhhyyyeahhhhh. I kinda' forgot about that."
"The Lord is my portion", says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:24
"Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee."
St. Augustine of Hippo
"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Christ."
Blaise Pascal, French Mathematician, Philosopher, Physicist
Ben: "What's that list over there?"
Me: "It's Laurian's list of songs on her ipod. She just wrote them in a fancy font on the computer and decided to tape it on that piece of furniture."
Ben: "Oh. Because I thought it was a list of things she wanted, and I was like, I've been wanting a lot of things for a long time now, and if she gets those things ,well that's not gonna' be fair."
Me: "Nope. It's just her list of songs that she already has on her ipod."
Ben: "Man...I want a lot of things. I just wish, like, I just wish I could have all the things I wanted and like, life would be sooooo easy."
Me: "Not necessarily, Ben. Getting everything you want could actually be really harmful. It's not realistic and life doesn't work that way. We don't get everything we want, and life isn't always easy. We have to learn to deal with it. It is what it is."
Ben: "But, I mean, like, if I had everything I wanted I wouldn't want anything else...and then I'd stop bugging you."
Me: "Here's the deal, Ben. God created us to need and to want. He wants us to desire what is ultimately good for us all. And Ben, what He really wants is for us to realize our need for Him and for us to want Him most of all."
Ben: "Ooooohhhyyyeahhhhh. I kinda' forgot about that."
"The Lord is my portion", says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:24
"Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee."
St. Augustine of Hippo
"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Christ."
Blaise Pascal, French Mathematician, Philosopher, Physicist
Really good parenting moment :)
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