There is hope for my strong-willed child!

Today I read an article that gave me so much hope for my Julia.  I have to share it with you and pass on the good news.

There is hope for your strong-willed child too!  This couple who wrote this article visited our church and gave a whole seminar on parenting, when Julia was only a few months old.  My mom watched Julia so that John and I could go.

At the end of the seminar they offered biblical advice for your child as you raise them via email, and every week they send out an email with a different parent topic and some great advice and strategies, all from a Christian perspective, which I really love.

Julia is a bright girl with a lot of energy, and she KNOWS what she wants, she KNOWS when she wants it, and she KNOWS how she wants it, and now that she talks she communicates her OPINION quite openly.  I, as the mom, am just learning how to be gracious and yet firm so that she KNOWS mommy is in charge, but that mommy also wants to hear her.

It's funny because we can't wait for our children to talk, and yet when they do we are often trying to keep them quiet, okay, maybe that's just me!  But anyway, my mom was giving me some great advice the other day because Julia just kept saying over and over, "Mommy, what cha doin'?"  Meanwhile we were in the car the whole time, so after the 7th time, I said, "Julia, you know mommy is driving the car!"  And when I told my mom she said, "Honey, she's learning to have a conversation with you, that's all."  So the whole car ride home, every time she asked, I would say, "I'm thinking about daddy, I really miss him."  "I'm driving us home, I have to cook dinner."  "I'm just singing with the radio."  "JuJu, what are you doing?"  She liked all my different answers and it kept mommy on her toes to think of new things to say without getting all my feathers ruffled.

Julia asks me "Why?" so much now and she says, "I don't want to!" and sometimes she has a meltdown tantrum at just the most embarrassing places and times.  I'm learning to keep my cool and really just trying to love her unconditionally, and trying to make up for her missing her daddy.  She tells me how much she misses her daddy a lot these days (me too, sweetie) and yesterday, she was pretending to talk on an old cell phone, and John heard her say, "Daddy, you are working, come home daddy, I MISS you."  There have been a lot of changes in our house these past few months and we are all making adjustments.  It's hard on everyone, and Julia is just learning how to test the waters with mommy, and explain her feelings.

For all of you mommies out there, hang in there, and keep in touch.  We all need someone to lean on and talk to, so feel free to share what your little ones are going through and what you may be struggling with and I will be praying for you as well.  Check out the Effective Parenting Website and article... I hope it blesses you and gives you hope!  With God, all things are possible!