It's not quite a quiver full, but it's a start!

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Toddler in Me



It took having kids of my own to be able to recognize some of my biggest flaws. The toddler that is in my head saying, "Mine, mine, mine" and the temper tantrums just fighting to get out. I guess the only difference between being an adult and being a toddler is not giving in to these feelings. If you pay attention you can see this inner toddler coming out in everyone. The teenage girl who argues with her mother over her wardrobe, the grandma who wants to have Thanksgiving at her house and do it exactly her way no matter what, the husband and wife who argue over what to do with the budget. The desire for control, the desire to do it our way, the desire to do it just because someone wants to do something else. It's something that is in us no matter how old we are. It's the same things I try to correct in my children on a daily basis that still try to come out in me. I try to remind them to put others ahead of themselves, to always share, to compromise when someone wants to play a different game than they do, to admit when they are wrong. Yet, here I am with the toddler in my head trying to go against everything I am teaching them. When something unexpected happens there I am wanting to throw a tantrum because they aren't going the way I want them to. When we need to use the money I've set aside for something special for an unforseen expense I want to stamp my feet and hold my breath just hoping that I can get my way and do what I want. I don't want to think about what's best for everyone else, I have my own ideas. I don't want to think about priorities, I just want to do what I want to do. Oh the little toddler in my head. Sometimes she'll make her way out, and I have to correct her and put her back in her place. Instead I have to remember to act with self-control, to be responsible, and to actually act out the things I teach my children everyday. No, the toddler in us never really goes away, it's too stubborn for that. But at least I can recognize when the toddler in me starts to come out and correct it.

Proverbs 29:11
A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back.

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

2 comments:

  1. Awesome post, so true!

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  2. Absolutely inspired! You've managed to pinpoint exactly what it is that I and everyone else is combating on a daily, perhaps hourly, basis! I saw that toddler today, cutting people off on the daily commute. Sneaking into a parking space ahead of the next person in line. Jumping the queue. What an eye-opening concept. Everything has become clear. Now if I can only quiet that little toddler whispering in my brain!!! Thank you for sharing on NOBH!

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