The Wonderful Twos?

In the past three weeks I have seen a drastic change in my son’s behavior. Suddenly he acts with a complete lack of regard for what his mother and I are asking (or telling) him to do.

He doesn’t want to listen to us like he listened four weeks prior. Everything that he used to answer with a “yes, Daddy” now gets immediate objection. He doesn’t want to wash his hands for dinner, he doesn’t want to clean up his toys, and he doesn’t want to come inside when asked.

And this is only the stuff I have had to deal with. With my work schedule I am at work before he wakes up and when I get home I spend three hours with him before he has to go to bed. My wife deals with this little ball of objection 24/7.

By the time I get home she is about spent for the day. We both try our best to encourage each other and tell each other we are doing the best we can do. Unfortunately the tolls of the day usually have worn us thin and sometimes it’s difficult to be encouraging when we are both feeling discouraged.

This evening after my son took his bath, he picked out three stories out of his bookshelf like we do every evening. He picked out the usual Thomas the train book and a Little Blue Truck book. But for his third option he picked out a Precious Moments Little Book of Prayers. This is not a frequent choice of his. In fact I don’t think he has ever chosen this book on his own. We read the first two books and I opened the third.

The fist prayer is this:

Dear Father, hear me when I pray.

Guide my steps throughout this day.

Help me to be kind and true.

In everything I say and do.

Help me with my words today;

Keep them gentle while I play.

Help me to know right from wrong.

Guide and bless me all day long.

I don’t normally take prayers out of children books but this one hit home for me. Even though my son is going thru his “wonderful” twos and my wife is stressed out and work is crazy

I need to pray this prayer right now. Guide me through this day. Help me to think of the people I love and be kind to them. Help me have uplifting words and not break people down. Help me to stay gentle in the way I deal with my son when he is acting up (not being passive and letting him do what he wants but not doing things out of anger).

Help me to do things the right way in the way I lead my family.

~Austin