The Rollercoaster of Parenting // Siblings in September

It's a truth universally acknowledged that parenting is a rollercoaster. To say I can feel a whole range of emotions - joy, delight, frustration, impatience, hilarity and exhaustion in the space of fifteen minutes is no exaggeration. It's a wonderful, beautiful, tough gig... And one that I am constantly striving to be better at.

The springtime was tough for the children. The serious amounts of change we were undergoing in the house, with Dave travelling with work and with temporarily moving to my parents had a huge impact. Behaviour went up the creek, and right alongside it were those sibling relationships. The girls, who have always been incredibly close and the best of friends, were suddenly constantly at each other, and the little man was the victim of some not so kind, or gentle, big sister treatment.

After a couple of months, I began to worry that this was stretching beyond a "phase" and into the realm of learned behaviours. I prayed a lot. I sought wisdom from others. I read parenting books, but the same old message of "consistency, consistency, consistency" just kept ringing in my ears. But in all honesty, it just felt exhausting and relentless, and so very hard.

And then all of a sudden, the summer stretched out before us with its wide open skies, copious hours and space to be... And something seemed to click. I watched the girls spending hours together in the sunshine... Gradually the bickering and fussing that had dominated our days seemed to become less and less present. There were thoughtful gestures for Jonas, and, I started to see the children's caring natures come to the forefront again...

The little siblings were back! Back in their groove... Back in their funny little humourous world. Back to the place where the odd tiff happens in a very normal sibling way!

But for this stage of life at least, it feels like we've come through the other side... For now at least. Such relief.

It's just another phase of the rollercoaster, isn't it? Of learning to persevere when it feels particularly hard... Of praying in faith when you feel like you're not getting through. Of being consistent and present and following through on absolutely everything.

And of stripping back, simplifying, uncomplicating.

Because seeing these three together, little friendships intact, peaceful and happy and enjoying each other's company makes all those hours of training worthwhile...

These little siblings in September...