Momma said there'd be days like this!

     Oh my gosh!! Parenting is sooooo hard!!! Ok, not actually parenting like feeding, washing and making sure everyone survives another day. I mean like making sure they don't grow up to be crazy people. Or at the very least productive members of society.
    I haven't blogged for over a week because the past 8 days have been crap crap crap. I'm not being dramatic I swear!  Currently we have a child who is very into her own thing, going her way and following her own rules. She isn't doing anything that would alarm any of you I'm sure. Especially because I know many of you think I'm too hard on my kiddos. Here's what I say to that, try herding cats then you'll get a glimpse of my day.
   Parenting certain personalities is proving harder than others.We often joke that our house is divided, the sunny side and the cloudy side. The cloudy isn't grumpy, it's just sort of, well cloudy. A bit darker, a bit harder to rouse in the morning, a bit melancholy. The sunny side isn't always happy either, it's just bubbly and louder. Which as you might have guessed has it's own qualities that are less desirable.
   I reside on the sunny side. I know, shocking. The child I am struggling with resides on the cloudy side. Oh and plus, I'm a rule follower, the child in question not so much. She is every bit her daddy in that respect. I say that not as a put down to Marck. He will admit wholeheartedly that he lacks in rule following. It's just part of his character. It's a fantastic trait actually. Marck is able to get things done in a better way because doesn't consider what rule might be broken. For example, Sunday at the Ranger game we parked in the season ticket holder section paying only $10. Not because we were being defiant, we just drove in, paid the lady and found our spot. We figured if there was an issue she'd let us know. See Marck always says, " just walk in like you own the place!". So fantastic!
At 44 years old he can determine whether or not the rules need to be followed. At 7 our daughter can not. This is where the hard part comes in. You can not make a child follow the house rules. You can encourage and discipline but unless their heart is in it, you will likely be unsuccessful. That silly girl had no more toys left, and no more privileges left by Friday. One more move and we were taking away Toy Story on Ice Friday night. Which would have sucked since we would need to scare up a sitter. Mercifully she was able to maintain for 24 hours. Phew.
   When  I say I prayed over that child, I mean I prayed! I prayed as if her very life depended on it. Because it  it does. The only way I am ever going to make it through child rearing is prayer. Left to my own devices these little critters would be locked up somewhere and I'd be watching Oprah. Sometimes I get lazy in my prayer life when it comes to the kids. I forget to get specific and to plead that God Himself would grip her heart for Him and His ways. Only God can change my children. Only He can give me wisdom how to handle them.
    At some points last week I wanted to give up. I wanted to send her off to military school or at the very least public school. She of course didn't want to be shipped off. Deep down I didn't want to either.
As I prayed more specifically I realized that her disobedience was a mirror. Ugh, I hate that. I'm not going into all that because after all, that's another blog for another day.
The bible says," Let us not grow tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don't give up." Galations 6:9
 I started this saying," parenting is hard". It's not. Doing it well, and persevering in it is hard. But we have Someone who knows, and can help us in every circumstance with these little people.