Parenting is No Easy Job!

Yikes! In an effort to keep things real and honest, I plan to share some things that make me uncomfortable. I have fallen so short in the parenting department lately. I have found myself exhausted and weak in spirit. I have been impatient and have uttered words I regret.

Lately, I have been particularly hard on Samantha. Her main struggle is time management. She is trying to balance a very demanding course load (honor classes) while participating in extra-curricular activities. I do not want school to take over her life (or mine) at the age of twelve! She spends hours upon hours doing homework (or getting around to doing homework). She is a perfectionists and lacks confidence. She is completely unorganized and scattered. She is me! When I watch her struggle, it kills me and to be quite frank, it also eats away at our family time. Homework has taken over our lives!

She has asked us to drop her out of honors, but we won't be doing that. She is one of the smartest girls I know. Last year, she actually had the highest overall grade in her Honors Language Arts class. She is still hanging on with mostly As. Some people struggle with academics, but she needs to learn time management. While she loves history and language arts, all the projects and tests demand long term preparation. She has to learn to use her time more efficiently. She can take hours on an assignment intended to be 30 minute Do remember how long I said it took to write my Christmas letter? Again, she got it from me! Poor thing, her primary role model (me) is a terrible disorganized mess and a perfectionist to boot. I admit when I am overwhelmed I do not know where to begin. I think this is Sam's problem. I want to be kind and firm! Instead, I turn into a big, bad, mean mommy when the homework is not done (as the clock strikes 10pm, ll pm and sometimes midnight). I better start praying for both of us!

Just to be certain that you all know, I love my first born baby girl. She has so many wonderful qualities. I am so proud of her! She is caring and compassionate towards others. She is very conscientious about her work and always turns out a quality product. She has so much good to offer the world, I do not want her to waste more time. I also am feeling like our time together is slipping away as she enters adolescents. I just want to enjoy spending time with her and her siblings.