Do as I say do or do as I do?

A very dirty, post-party, birthday girl!

It took a while but the sugar-high has finally worn off, and our house has recovered a bit after a Holy Week filled with egg hunts, family reunions and the birthday of one very special four-year-old.  The week after Easter was like the week after Spring Break or Christmas, when I have to reintroduce schedule and order to the children and even myself.

I have been running myself crazy trying to keep on task and get the girls where they need to be on time, loosing my cool along the way.  As the children scream at each other in the car, I yell over them to settle down.  When they get tired, hungry and cranky in the evening, I am right there with them.  I am feeding off their volume and stress, and they are certainly feeding off mine.

I have forgotten that I am leading my troops by example!  My children are learning how to deal with life by watching their father and me.  All of our children are absorbing ever bit of sarcasm, exasperation, and annoyance we inject into our words.  They are watching how we treat our friends and neighbors, watching how we hold grudges, watching how we esteem ourselves.  Every time we mutter under our breathe about how fat we feel, how put upon we are, how right we are, they are listening and learning. With that said, I am going to do my best to turn down my own noise and communicate kindly and respectfully to and for my children, so I can teach them by a loving and compassionate example.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself,"  Philippians 2:3