An interesting miscommunication happened at our house last night. It was about 7p and my daughters asked to watch some tv or a movie. Before answering,I was thinking about the weekend, weighing the fact that we had two late nights. After a moment, I agreed to watch some food network, yet stated, “We can watch for awhile, but I do not want to watch right up to 9p; I want us in bed and ready to sleep at nine.” So at 8p, when I declared, “all done for the night, turn off the tv” there was a quick plea for a 45 min video. When I held my ground there was an air of disappointment and frustration. Purposefully, I waited. Shortly afterwards my eldest sat close and said, “I am confused because I thought you said we could watch something until bedtime.” My response was, “I clearly stated, I did NOT want us to watch tv right up to bedtime, so we could be ready to sleep at 9p.” What do you think her response to that was? “Well, I thought that meant we could watch until 8:45p.” I couldn’t believe it. So we discussed how she was trying get as close to the line as possible and I was trying to stay as far away from the line as possible. In the end we were fine, because we talked through our miscommunication and did not let it fester. Oh how different that scene could have looked. If Samantha had fed herself negative thoughts and allowed her emotions to follow, she could have stirred up dissention in the ranks. Thank you Lord, she chose to talk and submit. It is in these teen years that we are bearing much of the fruit of their early training. Every day our children make choices that either build up our family or could very quickly tear it down. So if you are lacking motivation today, look to your future. Recognize how a little effort today can blossom into fruit during their teen years.
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