Following Through!

If your life has any involvement in sports, you have definitely heard the phrase... "Follow through with your swing!" It is said in baseball and golf. I am sure it is used in other sports too.

Following though is not a strong point in my life. I am a great starter... yet if it is a task that does not involve my heart and soul, it often gets set on the back burner.

Laundry, cleaning out closets, organizing areas of the house, paying bills ... you get the picture... are all things that I have the best intentions when I start pulling all the junk out and yet if I get interrupted... I am domed!

This particular thing... following through... is the hardest for my in the area of parenting.

I know all the things my children should do... yet the nagging, whining and incomplete efforts so often keep my from following through.

It is that tough love that I need to get better at. I see them tired and relaxed and feel bad to bug them to do the dishes... and yes, I am tired myself, but know it will be done properly and in half the time.

But then there are days as I watched as one discards his socks in the truck and leaves them there, another eats and leave the plate where it is... as I watch them do the things that annoy the beegeebers out of me... I realized that I can only blame myself.

I have got to follow through. It is one of those life skills that they must learn. Just like brushing ones teeth... cleaning up after ones self... being responsible for the tasks one is given.

I was really good at handing out chores and seeing that they were complete during the school year. I guess once summer came and routine went out the window... so did my will power to keep at them.

Today, as I look at mess surrounding all of us... I realize that I am raising my worst nightmare.

I never want to have sons that go out into the world not knowing how to take care of themselves. Sure they KNOW how to do it... laundry, iron their shorts, dishes, put groceries away but as they get older I need to really let them do it.

As they learn to take care of themselves, the will also really appreciate the times it is done for them.

Following through. I always love a new school year as I see it as a New Beginning of sorts for me too. Get back into routine. It gives me a sense of control and order.

SO... as I look around me... I breathe. I need to follow through.

Hum... favorite shoes... a pair of favorite shorts... that is a couple of easy dollars I just made.

Maybe I will be able to buy a back to school outfit! :)