The One with Godly Parenting

Hope the title didn't scare you off already. Hang in there. If you've read my blog before, it's me in a nutshell. I don't try to fancy things up. I share my reality with you, which usually involves poop in some form. So I'll say right off the bat, I'm trying to be a Godly parent, but I'm falling short. 

(I found this awesome quote/pic on this blog. Love. Although I'm not sure I 100% agree. I believe it's very much my responsibility to teach my children the way of God, yet it's not my responsibility to change their heart.  Only God can truly change them inwardly.)

I want my children to have a tiny baby concept of God, even at this age. I believe it's important to plant seeds of truth in our kids early on. If you're not a Christian reading this, you may see this as some sort of early "brainwashing". It's not. It's just teaching my children early on about what's important to me. You might teach your kids at a young age about sports, manners, or whatever else is a priority to you. 

In the beginning of our lives, our parents are the only thing we know. The only concepts and beliefs we form are initially shaped by our parents. (Of course, once we are exposed to other people/truths/things, these concepts can change.) Ideally though, our children will learn the truth of the Gospel early on. 

So ironically, as I set goals and concepts for my children to understand and live out, I am actually working on myself. Trying to be a Godly parent. And what do I mean by Godly parent? Well, I guess I mean displaying the practical characteristics of God to my children. Here goes...

God is patient. 

If I'm impatient and harsh with my child, I'm teaching them the concept that God is impatient and harsh. 

This is something that I really internally struggle with. I try to put on a good face on the outside.  I might even be acting patient with my kids. Inside I may be flipping out. But in 1 Timothy the Bible says that God displays his unlimited patience to those who believe in Him. Wow. My patience is definitely limited. 

God is love.

If I don't love my child, they will have difficulty relating to God's love. 

This is a bit easier of a task to display. We all love our children. But I need to remember to show love to my children with my actions, not solely by saying, "I love you." We need to be generous with our children, connect with our children, bless them, comfort them, nurture them, provide them security, and so much more. 

God is Just, Merciful, and Full of Grace.

If I don't teach my children these things, they will have a hard time understanding that God is just, fair, and full of grace.  

Here are some practical definitions and examples in real life scenarios:

Justice-getting what we deserve (a punishment for drawing on the wall)

Mercy-not getting what we deserve (just a warning for drawing on the wall)

Grace-getting what we don't deserve (I deserve a punishment for drawing on the wall, but not only do I get a just warning, I get hugs and snuggles and ice cream)

There is a time and place for justice, mercy, and grace. I'm not always going to give them grace when they disobey, because in turn, they will never learn the concept of justice. It is a hard balance. This may involve me constantly disciplining my little ones in some form or another.  It's hard and tiring and always a judgement call.  

God is a Forgiver.

If I don't show ample and genuine forgiveness to my child, how will they grasp God's immense forgiveness of our sins through Jesus? 

This means moving on after punishments.  No holding things above their heads, no silent treatment, no bringing up old wounds, no anger or secret bitterness towards them. My kids aren't really at an age where this is an issue, but we also need to show this action towards our spouse in front of our kids as well. Watching your marriage is one of the biggest ways your children learn. 

One concept that I'm very intentionally working on with the girls right now is God is the Creator. I am not creating things in order to emulate God, but I try in every day conversation to bring Him up as they develop a concept of their world. "Oh look at that pretty butterfly God made!" or "I'm so glad God made strawberries! Don't they taste good, girls?" or "Wow! God made it rain a lot last night! Look at all those puddles!" This is a fun concept for me, and a good reminder to enjoy the little things. 

The ugly? It's hard to do all these things. I'm constantly failing. I repeat, I suck at this. 

But that's ok because God has grace upon me. As of now, I will work with all of my heart to plant seeds of truth in these tiny hearts early on. Want your kid to be kind? Then you be kind because God is kind to us. Want your kid to be slow to anger? Then you be slow to anger because God is slow to anger with us. It's the "remove the plank from your own eye in order to remove the speck from your brother's" concept. A simple concept, but hard to put into action.

What do you think? Any parenting ideas out there? Do you think I'm a crazy person now? I'm no theologian, just a mom who is trying to follow Jesus. 

The One With Older Baby Toys

Ok guys, in 6 days my babies will turn one. This is not acceptable. I'm really in denial. I thought I would do a post on some new toys that we have gotten for the girls as they get older. (9 months plus)

I'll have you know that I have stuck to my "toy guidelines" from a previous post, and that my girls still love their old toys as well! Hooray! I'm trying to get universal, gender-neutral classics that will last a long time. If you missed that post, it's here.  Here's hoping that these will get many more years of use!


Fisher Price Animal Sounds Farm

(pic courtesy of amazon.com)

My girls LOVE this farm. They can play with it together for like, 30 minutes at a time. At first, they just gnawed on the animals, but now they try to place the animals in the farm. They also love to drop the animals down the chute of the silo, then open the door and discover them at the bottom. The rooster slides horizontally and sings Old MacDonald (without lyrics, just music, so it's less annoying) and the girls bounce on their butts and dance along to the music.
Perks:
-It comes with 6 figurines (5 animals, one farmer, there is also a goat that isn't pictured above) that are wonderfully sized for a baby grip, yet are safe for munching.
-It makes animal sounds when you open the doors on the front. (It oinks when you open the pig pen, etc).
-It has a silo attached that holds all the pieces!! (Self-contained pieces? I'm sold.)
-It has batteries, but you can turn the sound off if you'd like.
-My friend has a 3 year old that still loves this toy! (We will get a few years out of this one!)

 (Emily putting the sheep in the barn loft, Charlotte examining the farmer.)

Leapfrog Fridge Farm
I guess I'm obsessed with farms? I didn't realize this until now. I really like this one. First of all, my kids are obsessed with the fridge and kitchen, so anything that keeps them occupied without mischief is a winner in my book. Leapfrog also makes a fridge phonics toy that tells you the letter sounds. I'm all about this as a teacher, but a) The girls aren't quite ready to grasp phonics yet, and b) I didn't want 26 little magnet pieces all over my kitchen floor. The girls love this toy.

 (All the animal options)

(See! Already pieces on the floor! So glad there aren't 26 letters.)

Perks:

-You can turn the sound on/off.
-Because the pieces are magnetic, the base kind of "sucks" them in more easily. The girls can actually put the pieces in the base with success!
-Sometimes my girls fight over the cool base, so I just let them play with the magnets on cookie sheets without the base. They still have fun attempting to match the animal head and butt.
-When you make a match, the toy sings, "You made a match! Look what you found! You made a match, hear a cow sound! Moo!" (or sheep or pig, etc) It also has fun facts about each animal, like "Did you know that pigs roll in the mud to stay cool?"
-If you don't make a match, the base sings, "You put a pig in the front, you put a horse behind, put them together, and what do you find? A pig-horse! That's silly!" I like that it still rewards them for placing the pieces in, yet gives feedback that they didn't make a real animal, just a silly one. I'm sure this will crack the girls up when they're 2-3 years old.



Little Tikes Activity Garden
Stop what you're doing and get this toy. It's amazing. Life-altering. Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic. This has been one of my favorite toys of all time. The kids I nannied had this toy. They had it in the baby room at Pine Cove. (Shout out to all my Creek Kids girls!)
It is everyone's favorite toy, and very highly coveted. The worst part? They don't make it anymore. The best part? I got it on Craigslist. If you get it on Craigslist, just make sure that it comes with all the pieces (3 pieces of mail, 3 vegetables). Or you can get replacement pieces on Ebay. When we bought ours, it was covered in crayon. Mr. Clean Magic eraser took it all off!

 Emily walks around the perimeter of the house.

Charlotte planting a carrot.

 They LOVE to play peek-a-boo through the mailbox! 

Super fun!

Perks:
-This can be an indoor/outdoor toy. It's made by Little Tikes, so it is durable enough for outside, yet cute enough for inside.
-Both babies can fit inside well.
-Cool features: It has a swinging door, a tunnel to crawl out of, a squeaky doorbell, a squeaky bird, spinning birds, floppy flowers to play with, a carrot, radish and onion that they can "plant" in the garden portion, and a mailbox with mail inside! The mailbox is BY FAR the highlight of the toy. It even has a little flag you can put up like a real mailbox.
-Even big kids that are 3-4 still love playing with this.

Melissa and Doug Jumbo Knob Puzzles
First of all, you cannot go wrong with anything Melissa and Doug. Ever. They just have the best stuff. I want to start working on the girls' fine motor skills, so puzzles are the way to go! I love their jumbo knob puzzles because they are easy for the babies to grasp the pieces.

-My sister got them this puzzle with the shapes and it is their favorite! I like the fact that you can put the shape in successfully, even if it is technically upside down. (The shapes are symmetrical.) The girls have already put pieces in correctly! Yay!

Instruments (any that are age appropriate)
Weee! We love instruments! (Me and my hubby were diehard band nerds! Drum major and drum captain? Nerdy musical destiny.) The girls love to make music. We have a musical tub that I get out once a day. It's full of loud and annoying (I mean fun?) toys that can help teach rhythm and give them a variety of auditory input. We shake our toys and sing our ABC's, jingle bells, or whatever cutesy song I can think of.  We usually play with this in the morning time and it magically gets cleaned up by the time daddy gets home from work. It helps the sanity over here.  I really want to get them a xylophone, but the thought of my 2 babies and mallets scares me. They are always somehow injuring each other. Plus, we have a bathtub xylophone and they would just gag themselves of on the mallets. Maybe when they are older?

(Sensory water bottles, jingle bells, maracas*, tambourine, rain stick, baby piano)

*Don't get cheap plastic maracas. If the plastic is thin, and your child hits it against something, it will shatter and you will have lots of tiny bead things everywhere. Mine are plastic, but it is very thick. (Lakeshore, $2.99)


FREE household things my girls love to play with:
-Blankets and pillows
-Tupperware
-Board Books (sometimes I sneak board books into their cribs once they are asleep. That way, when they wake up, there are fun books to look at in the morning!)
-Plastic Mixing Bowls
-An air mattress
-Diaper/Wipes Boxes (they love to climb on/push these around)
-Laundry in a laundry basket (emptying and filling over and over)

Ok, so there's my list of new fun toys. If you're not a mom, you probably just died of boredom. :)
Bye guys! Next post...birthday party post!!!