If there was some kind of award for lecture-giving, I would definitely be in the running to win it. It doesn’t take much for the download of information to begin… sometimes I catch myself mid-lecture before I even realise I’m delivering one. Dave secretly snickers in the background when he witnesses me in full flight.
We are about to launch ourselves into the school year for the first time. Already, the kids have been the recipients of a number of impassioned speeches about how we are going to get ourselves ready in the morning and the practices that will need to be put in place to ensure maximum efficiency.
There is definitely a component of control to these speeches. ‘If I can just give them enough information, perhaps that will make a difference when they come to face a situation that is unknown or dangerous’. But I’m learning more and more as I descend into the realities of parenting how little control I really do have.
I like to think of it as ‘anticipation’. The equipping of information and knowledge in these formative years, and the security that my kids will at least have some idea of how to behave as a result.
Of course, I could just be completely deluded. How can I learn to tell?
This post is part of the Five Minute Friday writing challenge. Each week I join with this talented group of writers, free writing for five minutes in accordance with a prompt. Today’s prompt is ‘control’.
6 comments
I think a lot of moms probably feel this way. But I’m not a mom so I can’t know for sure.
🙂
Emma, you have such a bright voice. I feel like I have tried to cover all the bases in my own littler lectures, and I have gone beyond. I wrote my son a journal back when he was little and I covered EVERYTHING! Like I even told him how to break up with a girl (you know, to spare some girl the ghost treatment). Now I know the most important thing for me to do is keep giving each worry to God…while still giving mini symposiums. 😉
Thanks for dropping by my little FMF corner. I am glad you did.
Have a lovely weekend.
That is so kind, Kelly! Love your journal story – hey, you never know when that knowledge might come in handy! Hope you had a lovely weekend as well xx
Emma, I resonate with you on a few levels. First: my kids accuse me of lecturing them all the time. I try not to but the whole “this is why” speech starts every time. Now, even if I say little, they anticipate the lecture coming. I feel that if they know the principle behind the situation, it helps. My kids are teens (13, 16, 19). Having spent many years in youth ministry (before my kids were born), I really believed that I held a lot of control over their actions. Obviously,as parents, we do have influence; however, life experience and parenting has taught me that ultimately the control lies between them and God. And I have to trust in that and be thankful for the role God has allowed me to have in their lives.
So fascinating to see how this plays out as kids get older! I agree with you about the lack of control, though I have to keep learning that lesson unfortunately 🙁