Like Mother, Like Daughter

If you've never stumbled upon Like Mother, Like Daughter, click here when you have a cup of coffee and thirty minutes to enjoy a glimpse of  beauty, glean a little wisdom, indulge in a laugh or two, and find yourself saying, "Yeah! What she said!"

Leila reminds me of a woman my friend once dubbed Saint Erma of Bombeck. She lives real life. You gotta love a woman who offers mothers of small children a post on  How To Take a Shower and a post on discipline called Threaten. But Don't Be Dumb.

She gets it.

Leila offers a whole series on The Moderate Clean and penned the two most practical articles I've read on keeping house (The Reasonably Clean Kitchen Begins with Rules for Kids and Corral and Confine Kids and Dirt).

I recently read I don't want to be that yelling, screaming, crazy Mama. Too late, a few of my kids might quip. While Leila is addressing the mother of a three-year-old, her guidance rings true for an older child of mine with whom I seem to be locking horns on a regular basis.

Leila writes:

You must start today praying to your boy's guardian angel every day to help you know how to love him in just the right way. When you pray for your child, first of all you gain the peace that even your mistakes will be made into something beautiful by God. Second, little by little you will find the answers you need for him. It might take a while, but you will find them.

Angels are very practical. They are not the airy-fairy beings we think of. They are God's messengers to us to help us with the nitty-gritty of our interactions with each other and with the physical and spiritual world. Learn to depend on your child's angel. Ask your own angel to help you remember this.

Each person has an angel! This is in the Bible. You can name your angel and ask your son to name his if he would like to.

Also, if you are Catholic, make good use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in this matter. The priest, in the person of Our Lord, will help you see that you must just be patient, because a little child will always be naughty. This is normal. Stop threatening. If you must say no, say it to mean it, wait, get a result, and move on.
 

Good stuff.

I called a friend the other day and casually mentioned issues we're facing with one of the tribe. She went on to tell me that her husband -- he who tends to be the stern, high expectations type -- has recently been unusually generous and merciful with their teenagers -- even when they have been least deserving of it. She mentioned this because these gratuitous acts of love seem to be moving hearts where lectures and consequences have fallen flat.

Isn't that how God typically deals with us?

For me, Leila's most valuable pearl is this one:

Do not fear. All will be well. Not because I'm such a font of wisdom -- I don't know you, and I haven't seen you in action. But because God is good, and He will not fail to help you if you ask Him.

Amen to that.