Kids on Their Best Behavior

Kids are a funny bunch!

This morning, on the way to church, the older kids were REALLY giving each other a hard time. The bickering and picking was almost unbearable. Then we got to church and everyone pulled it together and attended mass the way they each know how to. Then, back to the van we go and the bickering and picking started right back up! Sometimes its positively merciless!

Bickering…picking…name-calling, all the way from the church, to Starbucks, from Starbucks to the reception we were heading to. Then something magical happened…

We got to the reception and suddenly everyone had happy faces, kind words and helpful attitudes. WHAT?! Who were these kids who just moments before were mortal enemies?! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this phenomenon in action.

So many times, over the years, other parents have complimented my children’s behavior and I’ve had to wonder what children they must be talking about. I’ve met the sweetest, most polite children and complimented parents on their children’s behavior, only to have them say, “I’m so glad they behave outside of the house because inside, they are always testing the limits”.

I’m convinced that this is the mark of a truly good child-one who tests all the rules and limits inside their own home, with their own family, while remembering what their parents expect of them when they go outside their comfort zone. It stinks for the parents, but we should take comfort in knowing that our kids have listened, but still need to test the waters and feel safe and comfortable enough to do it within the walls of their homes and the safety of the family that they know is going to love them, even with challenging behavior.

So, all of us, who have been complimented on how amazingly wonderfully behaved our kids are, should pat ourselves on the back and not worry about the fact that those same kiddos are going to give us grey hair and sleepless nights. We’re doin’ it right!

Here’s to parenting…may we all make it through another day of Doing the Dance of the Children~

This entry was posted on April 25, 2010 at 3:30 pm and is filed under attitude, children, encouragement, family life, frustrating, kids, lessons, mom, parenting, sharing, siblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.