Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Odd People Living in my House

Did you know that I I live with Wess Stafford? Or that my son's name is Howard Dayton? Yes, that's the same Wess Stafford who is the president of Compassion International. And the Howard Dayton of Crown Financial.

Ok, so these two men don't really live in my house. But when Perry hears them on the radio in the mornings, he comes up to me and repeats their greetings. "Hi, mommy, I'm Wess Stafford! I'm Wess Stafford" or "This is Howard Dayton!" He'll usually look at me and pat my leg while he repeats this a few times, until he's sure I understand.

Daisy, I've decided, is a strong willed child. David has been saying so for a while now but it's only this week that I've decided I think I agree with him. The funny thing is that when I mentioned it to my mom and my mother-in-law, they both responded as though this was common knowledge and had been for quite some time now. Where have I been? I live with this little girl and yet I couldn't see it until now! Maybe it's just that I didn't want to see it...

I don't want to label her as thought she now has some syndrome I have to fix or fight against. It's just so amazing how determined she is. But I know her determination could make her very useful to God as she gets older. The trick is...the trick is what, exactly? I want to say I'll figure it out as I go along, but I'm afraid I won't--that I'll never quite figure out how best to parent her and will have ruined her unique opportunity in the world. But Perry is unique too, and so this fear extends to him as well. It's just that I feel more capable of parenting him. Though maybe not this week...

He is beginning to test me, and I'm afraid he's winning. Praise God I'm married to David and that he is able to counterbalance me and show me how I need to handle Perry. Perry has been doing disobedient things over and over again even though I've told him to stop. David heard me telling Perry, for the millionth time yesterday, not to throw something and came out of the bedroom to see if he could help. I told David the entire incident and he asked, "Well, did you spank him?" I hadn't. It's not that I'm anti-spanking, just that I forget! But you can see the difference. When David tells Perry to do something, he does it. I'm praying that I'll catch on before Perry wins entirely and I've lost the war for his disposition altogether.