Graceful Time of year

“Grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a purpose instead of serving shame. “

– Brene Brown

It’s the Grateful time of the year again. LOL. Thanksgiving time has come. 

I’m sure you have all seen the pictures and posts about #blessed or #thankful, and how all the pictures of the family’s look perfect. I’m sure it’s come to mind how much better of a parent others must be if they can post those pictures. That parenting must just be easier for them. WRONG!!!!  

Most parents would at one time, or another say they are very grateful/ thankful to have the kids they have. We all know that everyday can not be perfect, and it’s hard to be grateful in certain moments. 

Take my trip to a local farm store today with the kids. I was looking at jeans for my husband when my daughter decided that it would be fun to have her and her brother run around the clothes racks and “make a path to school” (imaginations are amazing..lol). So, I let them know that I did not want them to do this, and to stay by mom please. If they had to run around they could run to the wall and back, which is out of everyone else’s way. My daughter said “ok” and then proceeded to disappear around the cloth racks again while telling her brother to follow as they giggled. I redirected again, and again and then opps…Mama had enough. I told them that when they do not listen, it makes me sad and I know they can do better, that they need to stop. (in a stern whisper.. You know the one)

In this moment I did not stop and think, you know what, I’m thankful for their imagination and that they were playing together. NOPE!! I did what I do not like to do. I stopped them from having fun. Because I did not want them to get in other people’s way. In thinking back on this, I probably did not need to stop them. They were not hurting anyone, or being loud. Everyone that came by had a big smile on their face and said Hi to the kids. As a parent I really want them to be well behaved, especially in public. But I digress, hindsight is 20-20 and sometimes I want them to just do what I say and be little robots, so that I can get the task done quickly.

Side note, we all have good and bad days. Sometimes we are just so tired and “done” , when something like this happens and your patience tank is empty. It is ok!! We are human!

We are thankful for our littles in so many ways. I want you to know that it does not have to be every second of every day. You are NOT a bad parent if you are not thankful in a time of hardship, emotional situation, or times that you feel social pressure to keep your kids “under control”. Now I’m not saying let you kids run around and yell and scream and be a nuisance. I found in general people like to watch kids having fun and being silly.

Kids are not robots. They are not programmed to just stop having fun and do what they are told.  They are trying to navigate and figure out how to act in this big world. So maybe we can all do a little better at letting them be kids here and there. Like the quote at the start of his post, lets let this situation serve a purpose instead of feeling shame as a parent in this moment.

So I am deeming this time of year not the grateful time, but the graceful time of the year. Starting with Halloween and running through the new year, life is stressful, busy and hard on everyone. Lets just give so much Grace that it becomes contagious! Smile instead of yell when those kids are just being kids and you have had it. Give a smile, kind words, or a nod to other parents that are dealing with a tantrum in the store. Lets do this together.

-Kristy