A fellow journalist and friend walks in very familiar footsteps as my own, writing freelance from home while taking care of her family. While keeping a blog for several years now, she has found herself "saving" her blogging for later, and as it has happened with me, means days, sometimes weeks pass before we remember to sign in and catch up.
In trying to keep creative juices flowing, she is determined to blog daily, always beginning with "what I have learned today." I love this idea and while it may not happen daily, I hope it comes close as this blog is my memory keeper, the glimpse into our daily lives.
Today I learned to keep reminding our middle child that HE is not bad, that his actions are bad. While he can be full of drama, he is also quite sensitive.
I know there are times my words sting and hurt him. While I try to apologize as soon as I realize what harm has been caused, it doesn't fully heal the hurt I have inflicted. Tonight after another battle, he kept saying how bad he was, that he is such a bad kid. Some of it dramatic, but some I think he truly believes. One of those moments when you realize, "He'll be talking about this in therapy one day." I tried to reinforce it wasn't him, but his actions, but only time will tell if those words sunk in.
I hope so, because I know his heart of gold, I know his belly laughs, I know his quick wit and sense of humor, I know his hugs and I know his ability to help his siblings or me without the blink of an eye. Not only is he not a BAD kid, he is GREAT kid.
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Learning to 'take in' criticism usefully and not use it as an excuse to beat yourself up is a very difficult lesson. I still haven't learned it!
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