Cowboy's Wife Wisdom: Expect Them To Do Good

Hey guys this is coming from a recent interview that Candace and I did with a beautiful woman of God who has 7 children.  She told us that she had to learn to expect her children to do good.  So simple right?  I know for myself that there's times with a "almost 4 year old" that I am thinking he's going to do something wrong before I even give him the chance to do the right thing.  I can speak for Candace and say this is also true for her with her girls!  Example 1: "The Wegele House" 

After waiting for Traycen to get out of pre-sch0ol one of the teachers asks me if I can wait so she can talk to me after everyone leaves.  Thoughts instantly run through my head trying to think of what my child did wrong that day.  Maybe he ninja-turtled someone or maybe he tried a new wrestling move on one of the other kids or worse the teacher!  As I waited to speak with the teacher my mind boggled with what had happened that day and what they were going to tell me.  I was expecting the worse that my "almost four year old" could have done.  As the other teacher approached I held my breath for what I was thinking going to be terrible news!  The look on my face probably was silly because I was literally in shock that it was good news instead of bad. They told me that Traycen had one of the best days ever!  He was not only a good listener, but helped his friends listen to directions and was patient throughout the duration of the day.  They boasted on him in different things during the day that he was rewarded with. Wow!  The whole time I was waiting there letting my mind wonder about what bad he could have done and didn't even give thought to thinking positively.

Example 2: "The Lostroh House" 

Sheridan and Odessa play together, separately and with mom and dad.  Sometimes Sheridan will topple over, or sit on Odessa being mind free that her sister is right in front of her, while the next moment she is hugging and loving on Miss Odessa.  Candace was telling me of a time that out of the corner of her eye she saw Sheridan rushing over towards Odessa.  In her mind she instantly thought of the worst and hollered at Sheridan to leave Odessa alone and let her be.  Giving thought to it later on, Candace realized that she jumped to the conclusion of what she thought Sheridan was going to do wrong instead of expecting Sheridan to be nice to her sister.  Perhaps Sheridan was just going over to love on Odessa and give her a kiss! 

Why is it that our minds always go to the bad first?  I think we as moms have all done this before whether you have one, two or seven kids.  Our friends insight that day has made us think a lot about parenting.  It's honestly as simple as she said it, "expect your kids to do good."  What more can you say to that than just expect!  

Till next time, 

XOXO Cooped Up Cowboys Wife Kirste