amen.

so. as i've mentioned here several times, pratt is almost 2.

which for all you mommies out there, you know what i'm getting at. 2. the terrible 2's.

as we all know, i'm not perfect. faaaaaar from it. but i have a true desire to parent perfectly.

did you just wet your pants? i know, i know. no one does that.

i mean, i knew no one did that. i knew no one was capable of it...but still, still there is that drive. that desire to do well with pratt. to say the right things. to discipline the right way.

but it is so hard in those times when he's being defiant. and completely testing me. it always seems to be me that he lashes out against.

yesterday i was at barnes and noble. my most favorite place on earth. well, top three. and as is standard protocol there, before i could even look for books, i had to void. because, well, it's physiology and i won't get into it. i'll just say this. i get so excited walking through those big wooden doors.

to barnes and noble. NOT the bathroom.

okay. so i find a book yesterday that i had checked out at our libarary about 6 months ago. i tried to read through it then, but it didn't really interest me then as it has now.

the new dare to discipline by dr. james dobson.

we did a james dobson study at moms and more last semester. and i thought then the man was a genius when it came to kids. and so i bought the "new" book. the updated version.

i'll just say this. i could go on and on about why you should go buy this book if you have kids younger than 13....but i won't. i'm only on page 34, but already, i've made so many notes inside the book. so you know it's good. cause i don't write in books unless it's absolutely necessary.

anyway, page 34. this is what he says. and you should know about it. he's just told a story about how he was at a conference speaking on how to raise kids, and he brought his children along. while speaking to a woman, he heard a huge bang and saw his two children chasing after each other, jumping over seats, etc. basically doing what you DON'T want your kids to do when you're the "authority" on child rearing.

here is what he says...

i share that story to clarify the goal of proper child rearing. it is not to produce perfect kids. even if you implement a flawless system of discipline at home, which no one in history has done, your children will be children.

at times they will be silly, destructive, lazy, selfish - and yes, disrespectful. such is the nature of humanity. we as adults have the same problems.

futhermore, when it comes to kids, that's the way it should be. boys and girls are like clocks; you have to let them run.

my point is that the principles in this book are not designed to produce perfect little robots who can sit with their hands folded in the parlor thinking patriotic and noble thoughts! even if we could pull that off, it wouldn't be wise to try!

amen, dr. dobson. amen.

i had forgotten that. i had forgotten that pratt isn't perfect. and that as my friend amber says, "kids should be loud. they are kids after all."

i feel like a weight has been lifted. like maybe i shouldn't worry about those people who roll their eyes because pratt squeals with delight when he sees something he loves...even if that squeal is just a tad bit loud. or if he can't quit pointing at the fish tank saying, "fish mommy! fish!" over and over again. or even when he gets stiff on me at the library because we've been in there for over an hour and it really is time to go home. (you haven't lived until you've carried a child out who is basically playing light as a feather, stiff as a board, while you try to hold them and a sack of library books all while the "older" ladies look at you and whisper that you're probably ones of those "new touchy feely moms".

whatever woman. i'll show you touchy feely just as soon as i get this kid strapped in his carseat. by this time i'm sweating and swearing and mentally reminding myself to call about mirena because I CANNOT DO THIS AGAIN.

and then i read something like this and remember that it's all normal. that i'm not perfect, pratt's not perfect and we aren't expected to be.

after all, that's what Jesus is for.

right? can i get an amen!?

ps. go get the book. here is a picture of it.