Tying Strings

One very important aspect of parenting that I was introduced to through the ministry of No Greater Joy (some excellent helps and insight into parenting, but this is not a blanket statement of agreement with all their materials - so read with discernment) was this concept of Tying Strings. The idea is basically that we, as parents, need to be creating sweet connections with our kids, tying strings of relationship and love, especially as we are also the ones to be correcting and training them the most. I was reminded of that today as I felt like I spent most of the day reprimanding one of my kiddos, constantly responding to critical speech and crankiness. It was quite discouraging for me, and I'm sure also quite discouraging for them. So, this afternoon, I decided that I needed to take some time out just to love this child, to do something that they would specifically enjoy. It was nice just to chat and talk about random things without having any expectations.

As homeschool moms, this is especially difficult. I know that I feel that all I do is spend time with my kids - we do school together, eat together, do chores together, etc, etc. But, that doesn't always meet the needs of the kiddos...sometime they just need some one on one time with mom doing what they enjoy...not accomplishing anything on the "agenda." For me, that takes self-denial and purposeful effort, but keeping those little hearts are worth it. :)

I had a hard time finding a pic of just the kids and me - this is from 2007