accountability


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

I think the hardest thing about being a parent is being patient enough to teach your kid a lesson. The other day Evelyn, in protest of not wanting a portion of her lunch, decided in her fury that she could make it disappear by throwing it over board. I turned around to find her with furrowed brows and plops of yogurt splattered across the floor. The day had already been a long one. We had spent 4 hours that morning in the doctors office awaiting UTI test results {which were negative and left me pulling my hair out and screaming in my head "WTF! What do you mean she has a virus and you have no answer?! Why did I just waste 4 hours here!!" But that's neither here nor there...}, and I understood why she was cranky. However, I could not just let her off the hook for throwing her food. Although I too was at the end of my rope, I took her out and explained to her that we do not throw our food. I handed her a paper towel and she and I cleaned it up together.

Jared and I are huge advocates of delegating responsibility to our kids. It is definitely a hard route in the beginning but we know it will pay off the next time, the next day, the next year, in 10 years, and for the rest of her life. Many times it would be easier for me to pick up her toys for her and clean up her messes, but it would be harder in the long run because she wouldn't know the value of taking responsibility and we'd end up with a ungrateful teenage on our hands... wait, all teenagers are ungrateful and demanding, so I guess that's unavoidable, but you know what i mean. We want her to have strong character. Now, I'm not saying I NEVER pick up after her. Frankly by the time 5pm rolls around she could color on the walls and I'd be overjoyed if she was occupied. But when I see an opportunity to teach her, I try and take advantage of it because I know the type of person she can be. I know I want her to be independent, strong, accountable, confident, and charitable. And how can she be those things if I never teach her?

I am so grateful for her strong personality. It can be beastly many times, but she is such a loving and cheerful soul. And at times when it seems tough and I stop and think is all of this really worth it? All of this discipline and direction? I think back to this scripture:

"wherefore, be not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."

It's the small things that are going to make her strong and great.

12 comments:

  1. So true--it's the same as a teacher. It would sometimes be easier to just give my students good grades and not worry about it. But then what do they learn? I wish they understood that it's actually a lot more work for me but that I do it for THEM.

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  2. Kendra, couldn't agree more. You're a absolutely correct in doing this. And I love the scripture and it's true, so true. Little by little, will bring big things. Take care,

    Shauna xo

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  3. "Out of small things proceedeth that which is great" Wow that is powerful. Haha but I'm not gonna lie, I laughed out loud of the mental image of her giving you a dirty look after throwing her food on the floor. She made sure you got the message loud and clear!

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  4. ahhhh can you give me this pep talk in about 9 months?

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  5. kendra I enjoyed this post so much, probably because im trying to do the same thing my my little gal. It is hard sometimes to have the patience to teach them even the simpliest lessons.. and ill be the first to omit that I skip over the lesson part sometimes! What a great reminder using that scripture, I dont think Ive heard that one before.. I need to copy it and put it on the wall : ) she looks like she is doing a great job helping clean up : ) go you for being a great teacher!

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  6. I love the way you write. So honest and true. This post really inspired me to be patient with the things in my life. One small step at a time leads to bigger better steps toward the future.

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  7. Wonderful post, I'm loving the new direction you're taking this blog. I'm studying to be an elementary school teacher, and I would imagine that similar patience is required!

    Sheree
    The Hartungs Blog
    thehartungs.blogspot.ca

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  8. I think raising a child is such an amazing wonderful difficult challenge! And setting boundaries is the thing I struggle with most. But we will get there!

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  9. As a middle school teacher, I just want to say THANK YOU for taking the time to teach your kids accountability and responsibility now while they're young. Even though I know many teenagers do tend to be a little self-centered, demanding, and irresponsible, there are SO MANY that are not, and it's because they come from homes like yours. I have a student who thanks me for the lesson every single day as she is walking out the door. I have many students who step right in to help clean up chairs or messes that aren't even their own. So even though it might seem like an uphill battle, those lessons WILL stick.

    So keep on keepin' on--you're doing great!

    http://autodidacticambitions.blogspot.com

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  10. I think you're doing it the right way! We teach our kids that they have to be responsible for their actions. It's not always the easy way, but you have to take advantage of those moments to teach them!

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  11. love this post...we have started putting Elyse's toys away before bedtime so she can learn that process as well! it shouldn't be long before she can start helping...and I love the idea of her helping when she makes a mess at meal times!

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  12. Bravo, though hard to do now it will pay off in the long run. I can always tell with the teenagers I work with who had to always do chores and who it is new to them to have to pitch in and help. It will help even when she is in those crazy teenage years.
    Ronda

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