Encouragement for Moms of Littles

Are you a mother of young children?

Are you training them up in the ways they should go?

Trying to teach them manners and good habits, and all that other stuff?

Do you get tired of their whining and complaining, and sometimes feel like giving up?

Dear friend, hear this encouragement. Don't give up!!!!
Sunday night I was sitting at the table making my weekly menu and grocery list. Elizabeth and Phil were sitting on the other side - addressing wedding invitations. And my ears perked up when I heard Phil say something about writing Thank-you notes - and how nice he thinks it is that Elizabeth regularly sends them to people to express her gratitude. The part which really interested me, however, was when Elizabeth responded with something like, "Well, it's just what I learned to do. Mom always made us send them out when we were kids."
I mean, it would have been lovely to hear her expound on the merits of conveying gratitude toward people for the gracious things they have given or done. To listen to words about a caring mother who demonstrated the grace of thankfulness, and tenderly instilled the same value in her children. How precious it would have been to hear my daughter speak of how her heart was shaped to give thanks by her dear mother's loving instruction.
Instead, she acknowleged that I made her write them as a kid - so now she does it as an adult, by habit.

And I? Am OK with that!

Years ago, writing Thank-you notes involved lots of cajoling and reminding. Maybe even an admonition, or two, now and then.
Occasionally I wondered if it was worth it to keep insisting on them being written.
However, the more I experience the fruits of my labors of yesteryear, the more I am convinced that - YES! - it's all worth it. The whining, the complaining, especially the moments when your child says you're the "Meanest Mom in the World" are so painful when you're going through it, but they will all be worth it some day. Keep on keeping on, dear mother-friend.
You're going to make it, your kids are learning, and they're going to turn out beautifully!

P.S. I just took Thank-you notes into Matthew's room for the birthday gifts he received this past weekend. At first he looked at me quizzically, not knowing what I was doing. But when I laid the cards on his table which say, "Thank you" on the front, he simply smiled and said, "Oh, yeah. OK!"
#ThankYouJESUS #KeepOnKeepingOn