These Days are Yucky

There are some parts of being a stay at home mom that make me wish I had another occupation listed on my census report. Most days cook, teacher, housekeeper, driver, entertainer, trainer would be other names for my job and those are all parts that are usually a joy to do. Today, however, the chief duty could be best described as "big meanie". This is a "draw a line in the sand" kind of day. We've had them with each of our children, usually in the two to three age range of our children. Some may argue that is far too late but that is when it happens for us. I remember the day Doodle spent nearly 6 hours on the couch because she refused to comply with an instruction that Andy had given. She got off the couch only to go to bed for her nap then was returned to the couch to scream or whatever. By the end of the day, our authority was clear to her. Not to say that she never challenges our authority, just that there is never a question of who is going to have it at the end of the day. Today is Mator's day.

Early in our playtime this morning someone decided to play with the lite brite. Let me just say that there is a special place in the afterlife for those who produce (or give as gifts) lite brites and Polly Pockets. I have never known a parent who bought one of these things for their own children. Anyway... Mator thought it would be a joy to dump out the entire bag of nearly 300 pegs. Oh, and throw them joyfully into the air. The result was me telling her that she had to pick them all up before she could do anything else. So here we are, almost two hours later. Screaming, crying and general fit throwing have wound down and it appears that the pegs will be returned to their bucket. (Miraculously, the screaming, crying and fit throwing was restricted to the under three crowd only today!)

So why do I bother? Why don't I just pick them up and be done with it? Why don't I let Doodle (who has such a heart of empathy that she cried when I explained that THIS time, she wasn't allowed to help Mator) just pick them up like she wanted to? Here's why:

"Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is well pleasing to the Lord." Colossians 3:20. God has put us in authority over our children for a reason. We may not think we are worthy or equipped but He has done so nevertheless. In fact, He has put all of us under the authority of someone here on earth. Wives submit to your husbands (Ephesians 5:22), to our laws and government (1 Peter 2:13), and to God Himself (James 4:7). How much easier would it be to learn humility and submission as a child than to be an adult and still not get it. We teach our children that we are their authority not because we are perfect and deserve their utmost respect. But because God has given them to us and He expects it. As our children grow in wisdom, we gradually make the link from submitting to us to submitting to the Lord.

Now, I'd much rather spend every day at the zoo or water park - those are the fun days of parenting. I'll be glad when this episode is all over and I can only pray that my Mator's heart is one step closer to the God who created her.