Tuesday, January 11, 2011

An Awakening

It's been a rough couple of days. Suffice it to say that raising responsible and respectful children is hard work, and one of our children has been testing the boundaries lately. A couple of nights ago, after I wrote my post about my diet, exercise and going to bed early, I had a BAD case of insomnia. If something is going on with one of the kids, I tend to obsess over it at the very inopportune time of when I'm supposed to be sleeping. As my sister told me though, insomnia might just be God's way of helping to give you some extra time to catch up or work through problems. Soooo...that night I had plenty of time to work through my child's boundary issue, specifically during the hours of 10 PM through 2:30 AM. ;)

By the time I fell asleep that night, I had figured out a plan and was full of resolve. I knew what had to be done. I knew that my child was going to put forth a great deal of resistance, but that I was going to hang tough.

Still, in the morning, it was HARD. It went as well as could be expected, and again I felt confident that I had to follow through, but it was so hard. I knew that the logical consequences that I had chosen were tough, and that they hit home. I knew that they would be effective, but I felt so MEAN.

I followed through on my decision yesterday and in to today as well. Until the lesson is learned, Dave and I will continue this course of action. I am feeling more and more confidence because I am seeing results in my child's behavior.

Thank God for moments like these. I'll be able to sleep tonight. :)

On a side note, the diet is going great! I feel so much energy and have worked out every day so far! Here's lunch...black beans on leftover Quinoa, mixed with red peppers, spinach and splashes of avocado oil and lemon juice. My kids all ate my favorite snack of honeycrisp apples and almonds. Seth said that he loved it, and that together they tasted like a caramel apple. He actually asked if he could bring an apple and almonds to school as part of his lunch tomorrow!

Sorry about all of the food pics! Tomorrow I'll post more pictures of the kids!:)

2 comments:

Monkee said...

I know how you feel. If something isn't right in the household, I don't sleep until it's fixed. I hope your boundry issues are fixed soon! :)

You're diet sounds pricey, but oh so yummy! I love avacados. I love avacado oil! I love rice and beans and fresh spinnach! I love the pics of the kids, but I also love the pics of the food! You take great pics!

Congrats on your 8 pounds! Yes, we will for sure encourage each other! I have to admit though, I have been "bad" today. I have had two cups of coffee (small) but, I couldn't help myself. It was Dunkin Donuts coffee, and it was FREE. The Cleveland Browns brought it in to work for us so my boss would keep his season tickets. LOL!

Tanya N said...

Wow Sarah, sounds like a tough round of parenting. Hope the lesson gets learned quickly, and know that they will thank you for it when they are older;)
Great job on the clean eating diet! Your food pics look super yummy! Getting results already and setting a great example can't hurt for motivation too...
I'm trying to get motivated to help AJ and I make some big lifestyle changes in prep for having the baby- including a lot more cooking and packing of lunches on my part to help us economize better, and cutting WAY down on how much TV we watch. We are wasting way too much of our life in front of that box! This year I'm going to try to gain back my sense of contentment and self-worth and take pride in running our household.
I love reading your blog as inspiration for creating a happy family life. What you and Dave do is so special, Sarah! So happy to have you as a sister-in-law, and so glad you share your life through this medium;)