Thursday 15 September 2016

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...



The Me and Mine Project

8 comments:

  1. Aww sounds like a tough time and probably understandable with all that was going on for them in their little world.. Not that that makes it easier for you! Glad to hear things have calmed down again, they are such a lovely little trio xx

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  2. Beautiful photos. So glad that things clicked back into place over the summer - it must have been so hard for you all with the changes and upheaval and I can imagine it felt like quite a rollercoaster. Lovely to hear that their sibling bond is back in place and they are all enjoying each other's company once again. #siblingsproject

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  3. What a beautiful read Claire. I think 'getting into a groove' again is the perfect phrase. It can be easy to get of our of a groove, but it's amazing what time together and lots of space can do xx

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  4. McKenroe said "it is harder for me to be a dad than to play tennis"!

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  5. Oh what a relief for you that they've found their way back to being in balance again! We found the summer worked similar magic on our three and oh does it make life nicer! Your pictures are gorgeous as always and when oh when did that baby turn into a little boy - he's really shot up over the summer hasn't he!

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  6. Parenting is so tough sometimes and I think being a sibling is too. But summer and space always help and I'm glad they seem to have settled back together now xx

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  7. I know what you mean about getting back into the groove of life. It is so easy to fall out of it for summer time. And then once we are in the groove again it doesn't seem too heck but at first wow it really is. What gorgeous captures of your three this month. #siblingsproject

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  8. This was so encouraging to read. We've just become a family of four. The toddler has been quite jealous and rough towards the baby - it's been awful to see, and I've cried several times! Encouraging to think that this is an opportunity to pray and persevere, it doesn't have to lead to despair. Thank you!

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