Ever wrestle with feeling guilty about something you do as a mom, and not really being sure if you’re making the right decision?
Here is the thing I’ve been thinking about: Is it true that if I pick up something that my children left out without correcting them or handing out “consequences,” then I’m teaching them to be irresponsible?
Truthfully, I regularly pick up after my children. That’s to save my sanity. Children clean slowly, they get distracted, and they don’t always do the job well. If I always made them clean up everything they left out, I either would get nothing else done during the day, or we would have constant tears from overwhelmed children who still can make a mess faster and bigger than they are able to clean up. If I do nothing, the house quickly degenerates into a mess that’s overwhelming for me! Then I wonder, to verbally correct or not? Sure I can clean up after them, but it’s important that they are corrected, right? But if I do that, then again I overwhelm them with a constant stream of corrections. What’s a mom to do?
Tomorrow, I’ll tell the story of my messy floor. In the meantime, I’m asking myself this question: What biblical principles will dictate 1) whether I clean up their mess and 2) whether I correct them or offer consequences when I do clean up after them?