Sunday, January 11

Guided Journal Day #2, give or take

OK, so maybe it will take me more than 30 days to get through the 30 days of prompts, but whatever. :D Like someone kindly pointed out to me after a meeting Friday night, "Abbie, you're ALWAYS late!" While I had a legitimate reason that time, I admit that terminal tardiness IS one of the characteristics that make me uniquely MOI. So, yesterday was an active and pleasant day. I got to work with a new family, which involved coloring, beading and watching them play a new improved version of the old classic board game "Sorry". Pretty sweet way to get paid...
So, here's the guided journal thingy:

Describe each of your children's unique strengths.

Hm. OK, here goes: B, the oldest, has a way with younger children. He has the energy that allows him to keep up with them, and he has been commended by the youth workers at church. He enjoys it, and they flock to him. I wish he would share more of this acceptance and good humor with his brother. He is adaptable and enjoys their unconditional acceptance and willingness to follow his lead. As long as there is an adult nearby to help him to stay in reality...as opposed to his tendencies toward what I call "cartoon mode". At times, like right now, even, as they play a new Gamecube game together, B can be downright patient with E, as he coaches and guides him through the harder levels.
He is also a good reader, and has a great imagination.

E, the youngest, is very empathetic, like me. I'm not really certain how much of a bonus it it to have that quality, at this point, but it appears to be true.
He is very good at Math, and reading as well. The thing that I personally see as a strength at this time in him, is that he is in tune with MY feelings, and shows his concern when things are getting to be too much for me. I do not want to let these things be evident to the boys, but when it's no longer an option to hide the wear and tear on my frayed nerves, etc., E will come up and snuggle up to me. He's better than a cat at times like that. :)

This one was hard. At 15, I'm sure it would have been difficult for my Mom to think of many good traits of mine. That's not an excuse. I'm sorry to say that it's hard to find good things about B, of late. I am grateful every day that he is in my life, and that I have been granted the opportunity to help (?!) him get through this period of his life. I feel woefully inept, to be sure, to help him attain anything other than survival, for now. But as I learn things, I can continue to apply them to whatever meager parenting skills I have managed to acquire so far.

Time for church. Then work. Thank you God, for my being clean today. Right down to the computer I'm typing on, I'd have NONE of these things if I hadn't grabbed ahold of recovery when it was offered to me.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please let me know what your thoughts are. The check's in the mail. ; )

Archives