One morning while driving in the car I thought about how I’d been annoyed with my kids for something or other that morning, and I realized that if my son’s future wife ever treated him the way I treat him then I would claw out her eyes. That morning I decided to change. Because getting annoyed when my child doesn’t answer quickly enough–even though he is indeed answering but is just slow about it–is nonsense.
Most every time I snapped too quickly at G or Little Missy I felt guilty about it. But that morning I decided that I was going to make a permanant, intentional change in the way I disciplined and interacted with my kids.
It’s slow-going, but I’m getting there. Day by day.