Dealing with a preteen can be a difficult challenge sometimes. Throw in being having two sets of parents, with varying rules house to house, and it can be down right hard to deal with.
However, today I'm going to write from the parents perspective rather then the kids. All because, lets face it, unless I let him write a blog post, I don't know for sure what's going on in S's mind.
I hate dealing with stress, in fact I know no one who likes dealing with it. I've been feeling sick for the last couple of weeks, and today I called in because S was starting to sound like he was having a cold settle in his lungs again. (Which is a bad thing from experience, he had pneumonia more then his fair share as a younger child). However we got an email from his Humanities teacher around lunch time saying that he was missing an assignment. So, he's sitting doing his missing assignment, that I clearly remember fighting him on before it was due over a month ago.
So I probably didn't do the healthiest thing for our relationship, I went out and got a Tim's just to get away, items he would have normally loved to have. And when I came back he had hardly done anything, so I slammed the door and proceeded to text with my DH for almost a half hour completely ignoring S. But for my own sanity I needed to do it. I should have remained calm and tried to help him with it, but this being a reoccurring issue in our house, and the fact he lied when he had the chance not to, made it hard to be the bigger person and not react.
I'll be the first to admit I am not the perfect parent, and I'll never be. But I can learn from my mistakes. Firstly, I must remember to put my trust in God when things go wrong. Ask Him for help prior to reacting. Secondly, I know that S doesn't necessarily do these things on purpose, but me reacting to them in an aggressive manner doesn't help the situation at all. Lastly, if I stay calm, things that we're hoping for will most likely have a better outcome. (No, this is not an renouncement that I'm expecting, but stress doesn't help with that journey either.)
