Ephraim's Child

"If we concentrate too intently on our obvious earthly methods or objectives, we can lose sight of our eternal goals. . . . If we do this, we can forget where we should be headed and in eternal terms go nowhere. We do not improve our position in eternity just by flying farther and faster in mortality, but only by moving knowledgeably in the right direction." -Elder Dallin H. Oaks

I have been struggling so bad with parenting. The constant meltdowns and fighting and potty talk and stubbornness and bossiness, etc. was becoming more than I could handle. A good friend recommended a wonderful book called "Parenting the Ephraim's Child." It was written specifically for those of us parents who have children who are intensely MORE and it has been a direct answer to prayers. It hasn't given me all of the answers but it is helping me to understand why my little one behaves the way that he does and I am hoping (I have only made it through a few chapters) that it will help me know how to work through the intenseness and still have some sanity left at the end of the day.

The above quote was included in a section about stubborness and I think it relates to so many areas of parenting. It was a good reminder to always have the end in mind. Do I want to get into a fight with my little one because he throws a fit and refuses to eat the pancake that I cut into small pieces when he wanted a whole pancake that hasn't been cut. The end goal is for him to eat something. If I have to give him an uncut pancake, it's really not that big of a deal. The hardest part is that I think he gets his stubborness from me! So I guess I am learning a lot about myself by reading this book as well and sometimes the reality of our own not so good qualities isn't a beautiful thing! I don't know if any of what I just said made sense but if felt good to vent for a minute. For any who may be facing similar struggles, I highly recommend this book.