My spiritual gift is not mercy. It is service. Not that it matters, but I do think it is interesting that I am totally a "How can I help you?" person, but I am also a "Suck it up and quit your whining" person. Especially when it comes to my family.
When my husband broke his ankle on vacation, I thought he was making a bigger deal out of it than it really was. Boy, was I wrong.
My "Deal with it" attitude is very much evident with my children. I have friends who are wonderful parents. They are constantly concerned about their children--how they are feeling, what they need--and they are very in tune to them emotionally. I admire this quality in my friends. But I don't have it. I am not usually a very sympathetic mommy. One of my favorite lines is, "Wow. That must be really sad for you." or, "You're okay. Stop being such a Drama Queen."
We got to swimming lessons the other day, and my son had forgotten his goggles. He must've momentarily forgotten who his mother was, because he asked me to return to the house to get them and bring them up to his lesson. I think I even actually laughed when I told him no.
I become a completely different parent, however, when one of my children is sick.
My youngest daughter spiked a fever yesterday evening, which brought out the "Mr. Hyde" of my personality. I made a special trip to the store for soda she wanted, set her up in front of the TV to watch whatever movie she wanted, made her a separate dinner, and let her sleep in bed with me. This morning, I let her have a hard-boiled egg and root beer for breakfast, for goodness sake! I probably would've let her have M&Ms if she had been smart enough to ask for them.
Maybe my inability to show more mercy during times of good health is what is producing hypochondriasis--not sure of spelling on that--in my children. It is amazing how many days my kids can assure me that even though they have no symptoms, they really are still very sick!
1 comment:
great ten!
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