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Parenting Before the Storm

Parenting

Last weekend, Brad and I were asked to participate in a parenting class at church. The topic was Parenting Elementary School Children with a focus on relationships. We are definitely not experts on the matter. But, as we have one who has passed that stage, and one almost through, we certainly have experience!

When Brad and I first started talking about what we wanted to share, he immediately came up with the title, The Calm Before the Storm. I thought that was absolutely perfect. In elementary school, our kids still accepted us as the authority figures, and there really wasn’t that much backlash. Not that it’s been easy easy, but it hasn’t been as difficult as other stages have been and those I fear are coming…

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What I learned on a date with my son

Date

Sunday afternoon I went on a date with my son.  We had a great time!  I let him choose where to eat and what to do afterwards.  He almost couldn’t believe it – he was in control of pretty much everything! You could just feel his excitement!

For our date, Spencer chose a local Mexican restaurant, followed by a movie.  We had a great time just talking and hanging out – just the two of us. In fact, after the movie, he wasn’t ready to go home yet – he wanted to walk around the mall for a while!

Now, we’ve done things without Brad and Ellie before, but it has been a while.  It’s way more common for Brad and Spencer to head to Buffalo Wild-Wings for talks over the hottest wings they can handle.  Or, for Ellie and me to head to Justice or Claire’s in search of the latest toy craze. So, for it to be just Spencer and me – alone for the entire afternoon – it was awesome!

So, as I was reviewing the great time I had on Spencer’s and my date, I realized a few pretty key things.  The time we spent together really shed a lot of light as to what was in his head – and his heart.

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