Personal DS comment:
Today I broke my little toe...it was so bad it was sticking out at right angles to my foot ...so annoying and now I have a throbbing foot all because I ran into the back of Bryan's heel! Why did I run into the back of his heel? Well Hope was biting Arthur (and when she bites she doesn't hold back!) so in an effort to rescue my poor little man I dashed over at the same time as Bryan and then both Arthur and I were wailing while Hope sat on the couch dangling her legs and looking a bit sheepish about the raucous she had caused.
This idea that children with DS are stubborn worried me from early on when Hope was born and as she has grown from the adorable little baby into an adorable little toddler with teeth, the ability to say "NO!", strength to wrestle with mom when she doesn't want to move somewhere and an annoying and dangerous habit of throwing things, I have felt challenged with how to raise Hope to be polite, gentle, loving and a pleasure to be with. I am not a very good disciplinarian but I know that it is very important to set boundaries and rules that she must be obedient to not mainly for my good but really for her good. We have tried all sorts of discipline for dealing with the biting lately and what seems to work best is a bit of a time out and then a little chat and an apology expected. As I read up on parenting skills, I can't help but relate this back to the Word which has quite a lot to say about discipline. I think the majority of the time Hope misbehaves when she is hurt, sad, frustrated and angry as do we all (when is she just being plain old naughty i try to stick to my guns) , but in those moments where i feel helpless to help her because i'm battling to understand the problem or she is not understanding why I am setting a boundary, i often resort to a big bear hug because I think that if she just knows she is loved that some of the problem will be resolved. I wonder if God does that too and draws us closer to Himself when we have been badly behaved? Maybe I should be firmer and God is more strict but then I think about all the second chances God gives us and in the end how He gave up His Son rather than wreak punishment on us and I can't help but think that Love always wins.
