I don’t dress up like Spiderman or spend hours pretending to be Marshall from Paw Patrol.
I don’t set up Batman houses and have fake battles between Robin and Captain America.
And I definitely don’t scream “HULK SMASH” at the top of my lungs while jumping off the couch.
But, after watching my youngest son’s imaginative play, day after day, I started to realize… Wow, our lives are pretty parallel. Just in different ways.
Some days I wake up and feel like I have my Superhero pants on.
I get my 5 AM workout in, drink 32 ounces of water before I even shower, clean the kitchen, throw a load of laundry in, pack the kid’s lunches, get them dressed and out the door EARLY and spend my entire day productively getting work done like I just became the next President.
Those are my “Superhero Days”, as I call them.
Other days?
I hit my alarm clock at least 16 times before I actually roll out of bed. I struggle to remember that showering is actually required if you want to smell clean. I would rather lay on the couch eating Oreos than even utter the words “exercise”. And I spend my entire day thinking about all the things I have on my plate and then, I do none of them.
I realized that some days I am a Superhero and some days… I am a lot more like Eeyore.
But what I didn’t realize… is that when my son has his “Eeyore” days? I don’t offer up very much grace.
I expect him to wake up and be a Superhero. Every. Day.
And when he decides that his day is turning out to be an Eeyore day… I get frustrated with him.
Yet, I expect for my husband and kids to give me grace on my Eeyore days. I expect for them to understand and trend lightly around me.
I expect others to offer me grace on those days, so it’s only fair that I offer him that same grace.
So here’s to learning to offer our children grace when every day isn’t a Superhero day!
Amen?
Amen.
Wow! What a powerful message. I never though of it that way. I do get frustrated with my daughter as well and expect her to be a well behaved child every single day never realizing how unfair that is to her.
Thanks Mandy!!
So true! So true!
Wow! God definitely used you to deliver a message I needed to hear! We are struggling lately with our 3 year old and while I know there is defitely times for discipline I need to learn to show more grace!!
So glad to hear this!… It can be such a struggle. It’s amazing how we can step back and see the bigger picture and are then able to offer more grace! Cheering you on!
Great message… Great reminder for all people in our lives. Thank you!
Hi Mandy,
I’m glad I’m not the only one that has “Eeyore” days.
I don’t have kiddos yet, but the same applies, like you’ve said, to my husband. This is something we have to communicate too. I might be having a superhero day, but he is having an Eeyore day. This causes even more frustration, so just a simple, “Hey babe, I am kinda on a roll here. I’ll come watch a movie with you in an hour or two,” goes a long way for us.
Thanks for sharing! … Such a great communication example for making your marriage work!
amen! i’ve been so convicted of this lately in my parenting!
Nailed it! Thanks for the great reminder, Mandy!
You are so welcome Audrey!
Yes! I’ll remember these words the next time one of my kiddos is having an off-day. It’s interesting to think about how they typically do a great job of extending grace to me.
Awesome, awesome, awesome message. Thanks for the reminder!!!
Perhaps we can not be heroes, but we can do our best to be a hero in are own children eyes. My own kids are very fon of policemen and fire fighters, a hero is anything that we promote and talk good about. Just as we made superman into a hero we can make any person into a hero.
I needed this so badly. We all have those days when we just don’t seem up to it but we expect the children to always be up to it. Good to look the other way. And, the message has been powerfully delivered. Just that one must also know when the line is crossed by a child. It can be a hassle but there should be a balance.