Reevaluating

Not doing anything special...
just being darn cute as usual.
Daddy, helping grandpa Lear.

For quite some time, things have been pretty chaotic for us. I personally find it hard to function in such chaos. And I can see, especially in Aidan, that the older he gets, the more difficult it is for him too. So now that we aren't in the middle of a move and such, we've been reevaluating our parenting, among other things. :) I know that even a seemingly perfect mother needs to do this from time to time, and since I'm far from perfect, I think it's all that more important to do it regularly.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd watched a show between the April General Conference Sessions about parenting, and also mentioned the website from BYU. One of their recommended book series on parenting is Love & Logic. I've read many parenting books. Frankly, nothing, even written from fellow church members, could I really see myself implementing what they suggested, and it actually helping. It all sounded nice, but not really helpful or anything much different than I was already doing.

I couldn't understand the whole "terrible twos" thing when Aidan was 2yrs old. He was sooo much fun. So happy, so full of life and exploration. I watched him in aw. Everyday was full of laughs and squeals. Then he realized he wasn't going to be the only child. That's when the trouble started. After Jacen was born, it was such a rough adjustment. Things calmed down a bit later, but then our life was turned upside down again, and Aidan was back to acting out.

I realized that much of Aidan's inability to cope well with these changes, is my own inability, reflecting in him. I want my boys to be happy. I want my boys to know how valuable they are. I want my boys to trust us, and therefore Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I want my boys to really understand they are in control of themselves and their lives, not anyone else. I want my boys to return to Heavenly Father.

So I started to read that blasted book series. And for the first time, I read suggestions that made total sense. As I've started to implement them, I see both Aidan and Jacen are so incredibly smart, picking up right off. I'm much slower to change though. I'll let you know how it goes. :)