Are you one of those moms? (You know the kind I'm talking about!)

Are you one of those moms who is sweet, understanding and always seems to be overly patient with her children. Do you look like the picture of grace? Was Proverbs 31 written about you? If you are, tell the rest of us how you do it! Just kidding. I tend to think that people that seem that patient and sweet in public are probably hiding their true mommy style. At least, I hope they're not as perfect as they seem.

I try to be sweet, patient and understanding, but I'm not going to lie. My mommy style is being challenged. Kate is in one of those phases that you hope to forget about. One that you hope never repeats itself. She's obstinate, selfish, hard-headed. She's hit Kraig and I both a few times in the last couple weeks. Our sweet little girl is, well, not so sweet. I know she's two. I know it's a phase. I know it won't last forever. But I'm having a very hard time being patient and disciplining in a way that's effective. There are times when the only discipline that comes to mind involves me banging my head into a wall. Not effective for anyone.

Seriously, though, I find myself yelling far too often. I'm working on it. I broke down and cried on the phone with my mom on Tuesday and it helped. She made it through it, and so can I. (I was never like Kate, of course, but my sister...) It made me realize, though, that I haven't prayed about it. So I started. I've prayed many times everyday for God to help me be the mommy that I'm supposed to be. To be gentle and understanding. To discipline with love. And it's helping. Is Kate being any better? Not necessarily, but I'm handling it better. I've also realized that she needs more one on one attention and more structure activities. She's still a great independent player, but she needs some direction. I'm still not perfect, and I don't have things figured out. But asking God for some intervention should have come to mind a little sooner. He's definitely helping!

So, what's your mommy style? I'm not one of those that I earlier described, but I definitely don't want to be the other mom you see out. The one that's harried, frazzled and is constantly screaming and belittling her children for the whole world to see. I hate to see what that mom's like without an audience! God has called us to be better than that for our kids. I can only pray that God will help me be the kind of mom He wants me to be. I definitely can't do it on my own!

And on that note, Happy Birthday to my Mom:) Thanks for leading by example and being a wonderful mom! Love you!