Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Family Bond

Little Guy is playing his heart out on the basketball court and I am completely distracted.     I am trying to concentrate on my sweet boy dribbling that ball down the court and making those shots.    But my ears keep being pulled to the mom and two girls who are sitting behind us.    

There is a battle going on.    

It started the moment they sat down.     Mom, older girl and little girl.   

Mom and older girl sat down to watch the game.    Soon they were just talking which caught the attention of little girl.    Hmmmmm.    Was older girl getting attention she wasn't?    She walks up and insists on sitting in older girl's chair.      Mom makes older girl slide down so little girl can sit.    Older girl is hurt and gets mad.   Little girl starts mocking older girl.     Mom fusses because older girl is "older" and little girl doesn't "know better".  

*pause*   I will tell you that little girl (approximately age 5) does know better and is playing mom like a fiddle.   She knows it and so does older girl.

Scenarios of this type continue on throughout the entire basketball game.      The attitude of the older girl escalates until she is punished.    The little girl becomes wilder and wilder in her attempts to keep her mom's attention.     The mom completely fails.    

Me?    I just want to cry because I know all too well that this situation is repeated over and over and over again in their home every day.    

I am not a perfect mom and my boys are far from perfect.     They definitely have their moments when they are true brothers.      However, from the moment I got pregnant with Little Guy, this was a huge matter of prayer for me.      

We have put a lot of effort into trying to teach our boys that being a family means respecting each other.    Treating each other with love.    Do we get along with each other 100% of the time?   No.    Do we all have to apologize to each other from time to time?    Yes.      But we all know that we would do anything for each other.


Today Little Guy had a really bad headache.    I quietly watched as Big Guy brought him something to drink, his Nintendo DS and some Tylenol so he could rest for a while.      I was sitting with him for a few minutes and Big Guy disappeared.      Later I went to check on him.    He had gone to clean Little Guy's room (one of his chores for the day) and change his sheets for him.

It has taken a lot of effort to create a family bond, but I am so thankful that with God as our glue it is definitely worth it.

4 comments:

black betty said...

i completely agree. i tell the diva everyday she should love her brother and respect his toys and if he doesn't want to play, she should leave him be. i told her you always stick with your family. if you see someone being mean to him, you take up for him.

i can tell it is working. she is upset if she can't hug and kiss him every morning...and tell him that she loves him.

thanks for this! and kudos to you, mom. :)

K Storm said...

Actually, I am a praying mom but this situation plays out for us from time to time. Temperament of the kids (and parents), if they are tired, hungry, bored, been away from mom all day or missing dad can be factors. And yes, sometimes we don't choose the right time to get out of the house. We do try to teach respect and love, but I know we get caught at a weak moment sometimes.

Just another perspective...in case you see us like that one day! ;)

Beth said...

I LOVE that your boys love each other. I am a homeschool mom with 2 daughters....15 and 18 year olds. They really love and respect each other and it shows. They are best friends. It does a mom's heart good to see that.

Shelby said...

That story is just sad. You and Hubs have created the kind of family that I wish I had grown up in. You've done real good!