Does Anyone Know Where I Was Going With This?

So, this post has been sitting in my drafts folder for a couple of years. Considering that my kids are now 9 & 11 you can tell how old it is. Anyway, I never finished it. I remember at the time I wrote this that I felt it was too negative, that I was just being a "Debbie Downer." But, now that my kids are older and I look back, I hope this blog gives hope to parents of younger kids. I promise, it does get better... at least it has for me. I wish I had finished what God was telling me at the time. But since I didn't... how about a little audience participation? What has God taught you in moments like these? What are the lessons you've learned from raising your kids? I would love to  hear your feedback in the comments below.

......

Have you ever felt like you were drowning? I don't mean drowning in water, but drowning in the overwhelming presence of the people around you. I think that must be what agoraphobics feel like when they get in big crowds of people. They feel trapped, like there is no way out. All they want to do is run, run far away where they can breathe.

That is how I feel around my kids sometimes. I'm not saying this to complain. I'm just saying, sometimes I feel so trapped by them. I know I'm not the only one. I'm sure every Mom (and Dad) at some point has felt this.

Nothing is ever enough. In the eyes of my 5 and 7 year old I can never spend enough time with them. From the second they awake to the second they fall asleep it's, "Mom, I need..., Mom can you..., Mom I want... Mom! Mom! Mom!" It's not just me that feels this sometimes, it's my husband too. We have a joke in our house that Jaedon starts his questions as soon as Keith turns the doorknob. He doesn't even wait for Keith to get inside after a long day of work before he starts asking, "Dad can you..."

I can take them swimming at the YMCA and as soon as I say, "It's time to go guys," they are already asking, "Can we go to McDonald's?" In my mind I'm thinking, "We're not even out of the pool yet! Give me a second to think." Or we'll get home from an hour at the grocery store and as soon as I walk in the house, before I've put any groceries away they're asking, "Can you play a game with us?"

Sometimes when I'm really trying to focus on spending time with them is when I get the most exhausted. It's because as soon as I finish one board game they're already bringing out another. Or we'll spend an hour at the park and as soon as we get home they want to go on a bike ride. After the bike ride they want to go exploring in the back yard.

This has been driving me nuts lately. I'm thinking there are two truths (if you want to call them that) that God is trying to teach me through my kids.

1)
2)