Chismville

Nobody ever told me it would be this hard to raise kids. If they did, I was not listening. The books and seminars I remember attending/reading all seemed to give me pointers on being a great parent and having great kids. If they told me it was difficult, that I would struggle, and there was no set system, once again, I must have been to proud or not interested at the time to read all the fine print.

My kids are good kids. They are cheerful and most of the time obedient. However, it does seem like 33% of the time, they test my patience and my parenting skills. This morning I awoke to the sound of little feet racing around the home. It was definitely Chalice, my second born (2). I wondered what she was so excited about and decided to take a peek. I wish I hadn’t! I went into the back bedroom where the portable heater was turned on a high setting blasting our electrical usage. I then turned around to find my file organizer with no files in it. 99% of my files, papers, letters, receipts, etc. were all over the floor. I’ve seen a lot of messes raising kids, but nothing like this in terms of the amount of time it would take to clean up this mess. That afternoon, I spent almost an hour and a half putting papers back into the right folders, and back into the file organizer. This organizer has been sitting in the corner of this back bedroom for almost 4 months, and most of the time, Chalice sleeps in this room. She has seen this organizer for months with NO interest. This morning, she decided it was time to investigate!

After I disciplined her and told her she was naughty, I put her in bed again, and she slept for almost 2 1/2 more hours! Very strange!

Later that morning, Joli was getting ready for the day and me…I fell back asleep! I was awaken again by a little noise in my bedroom. My oldest was digging through my drawer investigating all my things I use regularly, phone, earpiece and chapstick! He had the expensive Burt’s Bees in hand when I jumped out of bed to rescue the stuff. I then went out of the room to find the left over expensive massage oil poured out on our wood floor. He had dumped it on the floor, which is NOT the first time this has happened! Why does he keep doing the same things wrong weekly and sometimes daily! Why this morning on a Saturday.

Later that morning, I began to calm down and think about why I was upset at my kids. I disciplined them as I should but was still extremely angry that they would defy their father. I was then reminded of my Heavenly Father’s love for me and began to see what He was teaching me. How many times do I sin in a day? 10x? 20x? I don’t know! A lot most likely! How many times do I have to come before the Lord and seek his forgiveness? How many times does the Lord, say, “When is David going to get it and hold a grudge against me? NEVER!!! He forgives me with so much grace because of Jesus’ sacrifice for my sins. My Father is grieved when I sin but always has open arms saying, “Come. Repent and be forgiven!” My Lord will discipline me when I sin at times but will never hold my sins against me. He forgives and “remembers my sin no more.”

The example God has shown me is what I need to do for my kids. By God’s grace, I hope to begin to correct my children, hug them and say with much grace in my heart, “Go and sin no more!”

The Chism Family stayed home this Christmas. It was the firs time since we married that we did not travel across the United States during Christmas. We decided to stay put because we just had a very expensive move the end of August to the east coast, and with the economy the way it is, we felt it was best to celebrate Christmas in our home. We still were able to attend all the fun parties out here and continue with Joli’s family Christmas Traditions. The Howards celebrate Christmas typically on the 23rd and 24th. Because I am a traditionalist, I asked Joli if we can celebrate Christmas twice! She willing said yes! So, we had Christmas at the Howards 2 miles away and Christmas at our home on the real Christmas Day with just our family of 5!

Christmas morning at the Chism was very relaxing. We started with a traditional egg, bacon and pancake breakfast followed by stockings and presents. The kids loved it! The rest of the day was filled with finger painting, a trip to the bathtub with dirty kids, playing with their new block set, tea set and tinkertoys and naps! Unfortunately, Joli and I did not take naps, just the kids.

Joli and I then headed to the kitchen to make Christmas cookies. Joli whipped up her batch in seconds (as she normally does) while I requested her help to speed up my recipe. She made a peanut butter chocolate cover cookie while I made Candy Cane cookies.

We ended the day with the Howards coming over for a late night movie of Home Alone. All in all, it was a good day for our little clan. I enjoyed the day/week off of work and am very grateful to have such a wonderful family.

The past couple of days you will find us resting, playing with our kids, taking a few quiet walks with family members, having a few friends over (Laughman’s last night), watching a movie or two or reading a good book. Joli got me a few John Grisham books that we are going to read out loud together. I also just started an amazing book called, “Worldliness” edited by C.J. Mahaney. It is powerful and just what I needed to read right now in my life.