Parenting with love and grace

It's really easy for me to become overwhelmed and frustrated with two little toddlers underfoot.  These little, adorable, monsters make unending messes, demand 99% of my time and attention, and can scream loud and long.  Feeding them the food they need can often be a strain on my creativity (spaghetti happens to work well for getting in their grains and veggies).  Figuring out games that keep their attention, or gain it in the first place, is often a source of frustration for me.  I often feel like I'm struggling to figure out this parenting thing, and I often feel like I'm going to go insane from a messy, unorganized house.

I just finished vacuuming the entire living room floor because Oliver had flung coconut everywhere.  There is a jacket on the living room chair, two more on the couch next to a hanger and two mismatched socks.  Two blankets are bunched up at the foot of the chair, and next to that is the diaper bag.  On the floor in front of the bookcase are two books, another hanger, and a pair of Wynter's jeans.  Our Christmas tree has only lights and ribbon messily resting on oddly bent branches from being pulled down and otherwise messed with by little hands. I had to take down the ornaments because those same little hands enjoyed taking off the sparkling things too much.

It can be really hard for me to see the humor or joy in coconut flakes littering the floor like a light dusting of snow.  My first reaction is to be angry.  Why in the world would Oliver fling coconut everywhere?  What made him think that was a good idea?  Now I have to vacuum the floor, and coconut that I was using for cookies has been wasted.

Today it was easier to laugh, and I did.  I thought about how it looked like it had snowed inside our home, and thought to myself how Oliver must be missing snow (not that he's ever seen snow) as much as me.  I didn't get mad.  But had it been yesterday I would have been furious!  Certainly not the best, nor the correct reaction and example.

I don't know why I expect my kids to be perfect angels when I myself don't even come close, but I find that I do expect much of these little people.  I expect joyful obedience 90% of the time, I expect them to clean up their messes, I expect them to think and act rationally... expecting all of that is not rational!  Now I don't exactly think about the fact that I expect it, but my reactions when things don't go according to my expectations certainly are evidence enough.

 These little people come into a sinful world, with a sinful heart, and cannot be expected to think or act like good little children without being taught.  Patiently taught, because any parent can tell you that after the 100th time of saying no to the same thing these little ones still don't quite get it.  God tells us to train our children in the way they should go.  That takes work, patience, perseverance, grace, and God.  Left on my own I am a slave to my unrealistic expectations and constant frustration.  Only with God can I train these little ones in His ways with love and grace.  I am thankful that God shows me more mercy, love, and grace than I can comprehend, and I pray that He will help me to demonstrate this to my own children.