So how many of you have ever had your child come home with stuff missing, complaints about not having had lunch that day, unusually irritable or sullen, missing assignments, etc.? What is your response when on a random, unrelated day at an unannounced time, he/she 'happens' to mention that that kid in class who is 'always bothering me' did something...again and that it happened before but you never even knew?
Most people might say " well as the Dad, you gotta show him how to be tough and put that boy in his place and blah blah...." But how many of you, before responding would think to PRAY about his weaknesses so that God can reveal where the real fault lies? We think the world of our children and that most times, they can do no wrong. But are we willing to find out that maybe he/she is or has something to change? This doesn't mean that all teachers are right and all kids are wrong or that your child is always right and other kids are always wrong. What it does mean, however, is that when you parent school age children, you must also realize that their influences are so diverse in the time that you're not with them that sometimes, you just don't know. But God does...
And this is not a Daddy exclusive problem; there are some single moms who have to wrestle with "which parent do I need to be right now - the lover or the fighter? the tough or the tender?" when there is no Daddy to help make that choice more obvious. There is a reason why a relationship with the Creator is critical in these times. He sees the beginning, middle and the end of every circumstance. What we fail to realize when we operate without Him is that these situations were designed as much for you as well as your children; to shape and mold their character and yours.
As the leader of the home, a man must make a spiritual decision on how to fight and win those battles for our kids. The emotional approach most often invites factors into the mix that never existed in the first place and people get hurt. When the woman is the leader of the home, those men out there looking on should learn from their struggle exactly what they are not doing in certain situations. So when a woman has an attitude with you because you're not there for little Billy or Suzy - but think you think you're "there" as a parent because your checks and your visitation schedule is on point -like clockwork- but your empathy for to the day-to-day is absent, THAT's what she's talking about.
What do you think and how would you and do you deal?
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