Parenting myself

Yesterday I was trying to get things accomplished. Basic stuff like dishes, laundry and picking up the house. I've all but given up on the big stuff at this point. I'm just too tired and nauseous.

The kids were being high maintenance and wanted gum. When I told them I couldn't get them gum at that exact second, Elizabeth started crying.

Being the ever godly mother , I told Elizabeth, "Really? You're going to cry over this?! Why don't you find something worse to cry about.... like the people who are sick, the children who won't get dinner tonight, the people who don't have jobs, the people who don't know Jesus. Those are the kinds of things you should be crying about."

And back to my dishes I went.

I found myself laughing at how I was trying to help her learn to be less dramatic by being dramatic myself.

You know, it's hard being a parent to Elizabeth sometimes. Because she is so stinkin' much like me!! It's like parenting myself, which isn't fun for either of us. Dealing with her sins while dealing with the same sins in myself.

Later in the evening, Elizabeth was crying again. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me, "I don't know. But it's not about gum!"