Spencer is Getting Independent

Be ye angry, and sin not. (Ephesians 4:26)

Spencer is really getting independent. I'm not just talking about his ability to move about, but he is thinking more independently. He is really showing independence of thought and feeling. If we tell him no, he is quick to let us know that he is unhappy that we have overruled his independent action. I try to stay calm and tell him what is appropriate and inappropriate in terms of his responses while allowing him to "own" his emotions.

This is not something that I learned to do very well AT ALL. And here I am 32 years old and married eight years. The inability to own and share your emotions affects the level of intimacy one can experience with another.

I think every parent should want their child to be better than they are. I want Spencer to be more organized, more spiritual, more disciplined than I am. I want him to be a better husband and father than I am. I learned a lot from my Dad. Some things not so good. Most was very good. But I have been exposed to enough to know somethings that I need to let just be memories in the house of my youth and not bring them into my own home. I pray that Spencer will have a similar experience, that he'll go beyond me in how he leads his own home in another 20 to 25 years from now.

So we take the opportunity now to help him develop into a person who is honest with his feelings while teaching him that we can feel angry, sad and still choose to act a different way.

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