KEEP THE POSTURE OF A THANKFUL HEART



Few weeks back I was in the room trying to rest when I heard the cry of my 3yrs old son. He was crying at the top of his voice, I quickly rushed to see what was happening only to realise he was crying because his brother changed the station from his favourite cartoon so he could watch his own. 

This would be the third time he was doing it that week, I got so angry I flogged him for being so selfish after I had warned him on same issue severally, i told him to go to his room to sleep and he would not watch tv for the rest of the day.

He cried so hard and said " mummy you don't love me, nobody cares about me in this house you only love David, I want to QUIT this family" 😲😲. Each time they misbehave and I discipline them I usually don't listen to their sorry because I would have given them alot of warning before doing same. But his words that day really got me thinking, in my mind I started wondering what could be going on in his mind for using the word QUIT, for a 6years old some people might say it is childish but then in this context he understands what he is saying and feels because I denied him of watching his favourite cartoon means I don't love him and he wants to leave maybe he could get the love outside. Then I sat him down and said,Subomi if you think what I've just done means I don't love you or no one cares about you, then you can quit this family but before you go, I will strip you of all you are wearing including your shoes, then I will send you out to the street where you won't see anyone to shelter, feed,cloth or protect you. You will be alone without anyone to call a family, as I was talking he looked so scared and I said let me know when you want to leave. He said mummy I don't want to quit this family anymore, I asked why he said I don't want to be alone. Then I told him to be grateful he had a family and people who loved him and could even correct him when he is wrong, I told him he isn't better than those begging for alms on the street he just had privilege which the beggars on the street doesn't have which is a family that would have cared for them. 
I know as Parent we always try to build emotional resilience in our children so they can stand any challenges that comes their ways but then as adult too we sometimes get overwhelmed with all the unpleasant situations around us,be it physical,emotional or spiritual challenges,to some its it's their job, marriage,health,finances or family. Sometimes we feel helpless and just want to give up because we feel all hope is lost, yet we forget so quickly that there are so many things to be thankful for around us. It's the season of Thanksgiving and i want to charge us all to be more thankful for all those little things we take for granted if only we know how deeply God loves us, we would be more thankful. Being alive alone is a miracle, let us learn to trust God to bring us out of those unpleasant situations and difficulties we are facing. (Romans 15:13, deuteronomy 31:8).#Olabimpe#.

PARENTING SERIES ......1

This morning as I was preparing my kids lunch for school, my 3years old son walked up to me and said mummy what are you giving us for lunch. I said noodles and boiled egg with a smile on my face, and he said please don't give me egg I want only the noodles, I knew he doesn't like boiled egg but I wanted to force him to eat it at all cost. So I said no I will put it in your food and you must eat it, then I said if you don't eat egg you won't grow tall like your brother Subomi🙂. He then said ok mummy put it in my noodles I will leave it in the school😲 and he walked away from the kitchen. His last sentence got me thinking and I started linking this to reality, I realized that most times there is always that particular thing we feel is best for our kids and we would want to use all means to get them to take or do it using the parent power, but then I realized that most times we end up making our children lie to us and live in pretense and they don't feel guilty about it just because we fail to use the right channel of communication or the best method to make them do what we want. So another thought came to my mind, and I realized the best way to ensure I make him get the right nutrients I want from egg varies, I could boil, fry or even break the egg into the noodles in as much he doesn't see a whole egg with yolk he will still eat it and I will be fulfilled. Let us all reflect on our parenting skills, there are areas we need to make adjustments, we should raise kids that won't be afraid to express how they feel without lieing and pretending, let us learn several other ways to make them understand the values and discipline we want to imbibe in them. It is very important to pray for wisdom and God's guidance but majority of the wisdom application lies in our hands. Parenting has nothing to do with age or status, you can be a full time mom and still lack parenting skills, even while chasing your career and trying to be a role model worthy of emulation, let us not forget our first call of duty over our children. I watched a video of 6 futa student today who ganged up to beat a jambite to stupor , all those student are trained by one parent and some of their parent might even be role models to others. I feel pained seeing alot happening this days with children especially teenagers, it's time we wake up to our duties as parent, may God empower us to help our children to live a Godly life and also build values and character in them which is worthy of emulation Amen. "Olabimpe"#mindfulparenting#.