Yesterday, Joey, Lydia, Charlotte and I spent 8 hours in the car driving to and from a frustrating, unproductive doctor’s appointment for Lydia. However, on several fronts, the day could be declared a success. How could that be, you ask?
First, Joey and I had eight hours to talk. Lovely. Charlotte and Lydia contentedly watched videos and napped the whole time we were driving, so Joey and I were able to cover a lot of topics without interruption. That, alone, is a treat.
One topic that had been rummaging around in my brain involved the way I speak to others. I have been studying Colossians in my John MacArthur quiet time Bible study. Colossians 3:21 (Amplified Bible) says:
Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]
John MacArthur believes that a more accurate translation for “fathers” is “parents.” “Parents” includes mothers, doesn’t it? I was then inspired to examine my tone of voice when I am speaking to the kids. This is where Flylady comes in. Having two pre-school-aged children and a couple of children who function in that realm developmentally, I have to give a lot of instruction a lot of the time. These children do not automatically jump in and participate in a Flylady routine written in my Control Journal. I have to instruct, instruct, instruct. Does this get tiring? Oh, yeah. And are my other children completely exempt from requiring instruction in Flylady routines? Nope.
So, all of these potentially-tiring instructions can easily start coming out of my mouth in an impatient, irritating tone of voice. The last thing I want to do is fret or discourage my children. I especially don’t want to fret or discourage them when it comes to establishing and maintaining Flylady routines. I want them to embrace the whole Flylady concept so that they can benefit when they are running their own households one day. You can bet I’ll be watching my tone of voice more carefully, now.
Second, while I was talking, I got to CRAFT! Woo-hoo! I’ll post more about what I’m crafting later, but I was pretty pumped to have a couple of projects completed yesterday.
Third, we ate lunch at Jason’s Deli. I’ve only eaten there once before, but I really like their salad bar. AND those fabulous pumpkin seed crackers. I get a kick out of being able to have something really tasty (and organic!) for lunch that is South Beach Diet-friendly. I guess I am easily amused, eh?
Fourth, we went to Whole Foods. I haven’t been to Whole Foods since they moved (and that’s been a LONG time). What a treat! I am planning to spend quality time in that store sometime soon so I can discover new products to add to our United Natural Foods order.
So, there you have it: talking, crafting and good food made up for a long drive (and a very rude doctor).
365 Days with Flylady 