Still Learning

God reveals so much to us (parents) through our children. So often I find myself saying something to my boys only to realize that God is saying the same thing to me! The sad reality is, I'm still learning some of the lessons that I'm trying to teach them...of course, on an adult level. I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one! My next hurdle is modeling God's grace while correcting, redirecting and teaching the same lessons over and over and over...
I'm definitely a work in progress!

The other revelation that I had today will lead me to Webster or better yet, a thesaurus. I often refer to my boys' mischievous acts as disobedience. Today it occurred to me that dogs obey. Do I want the boys to obey?? There must be a better word. A word that allows for a little wiggle room. We all know how much young boys wiggle, right??

On a lighter note, we're finishing up our first session of swimming classes this week. JB has been very reluctant to "let go" despite this being his fourth consecutive summer of lessons. MC is nervous, but eager to participate and happy to celebrate any victory. Before class yesterday, I was giving JB a mini pep talk.

Me: JB, when you get in the water you're going to have to let go of the coach. You won't learn to swim hugging the coach. Just relax and let the water hold you up.

JB: OK, but how can the water hold me up?

Me: If you just relax, your body will float. Then you can use your strong muscles to move you through the water. You have to remember to control your muscles and not flop around. That just gets you anxious.

JB: But the water can't hold me up, I weigh like 63 pounds!

OMG! First of all, he doesn't weigh 63 pounds! Secondly, I can't believe he was analyzing how heavy he is in relation to the water. It makes perfect sense. I just wouldn't expect a 6 year old to be thinking about that.
On Thursday, I'm getting my hair cut. Maybe then I can just bite the bullet and get in the water with them regularly. At this point I'm beginning to think that lessons are a waste of money. If I go with them regularly in the summer, they'll learn to swim! AARGH! Should I add this to my many hats?