Prayer for not-wanting-to-be-ness.

Dear Lord,

Sometimes You show us things to enlighten us on what to do. Sometimes You show us things of what you should do. And most importantly, sometimes You show us things to enlighten us on what NOT to do. I truly feel that this whole school year has shown me what NOT to do as a parent. I'm taking Your hint quite clearly.

And what I have learned: stay-at-home moms have too much time on their hands. The irony? If it was at any way financially feasible, I, too, would love being a stay-at-home mom. Research has shown that children with a stay-at-home parent have better chances in school and life. So, of course, I want that valuable opportunity.

And if that is in my cards, Lord... if for any second I get the sudden urge to pester my child's teacher out of boredom, GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO! Make me knit a blanket or retile my bathroom! Don't let me sit idle, thinking, "I have nothing to do, da dum dum da. My son came home with a yellow face on his behavior chart. The substitute must have something against my child. Last time he got a yellow was when the same sub was there. I need to go complain and tell his teacher if she won't do something about it, then I will."

I know also not to always take my child's word as solid, unbreakable truth. There are always two sides to every story, and I must listen to both sides before passing any sort of judgment. Even though I will try to raise my future child to be honest and true, I will understand kids are kids and not always spotless in their decision-making. It's human nature, but kids are very transparent. You can pick out falsehood like an elephant in a small room.

If you have substantial evidence for something serious happening, then it's rather hard to disprove, especially if that evidence is an adult witness! If there is a victim involved, then that child's safety has to be addressed as well as the situation.

I do not want to be that mom who places the blame on everyone else. Mr. R and I both will take responsibility for our roles in rearing our child; we are his/her first and foremost teacher. What we do, he/she will do. If there is a continual problem that happened BEFORE arriving upon a certain school, then guess what? Not the teacher's blame. What was that? It's not the teacher's fault that a child has an attitude and a chip on its shoulder? Huh? Qu'est-ce que c'est?!

Lord, I would appreciate the serenity and grace to let my future child's teacher do her job and I'll do mine. (Hopefully this future child will not show up for quite a few years!) Give me the remembrance of these mentally-trying times as nudges for future reference. Let history not repeat itself and let it do its job in preventing catastrophic annoyance.

Amen.
-- Miss Chelsea :)