Houston, We Have a Problem

Have you ever seen the movie Mars Attacks? You know the part where the machine gun-wielding aliens chase after people saying "don't run, we're your friends." Well lately I feel like Space Station Ruff has been invaded by something similar. My once darling children have taken on the form of little mutants, ready to attack and overthrow at any moment. It's like I'm orbiting planet Sanity but I just can't make re-entry into the atmosphere, so I'm left swirling and twirling in outer space, with impending doom just around the corner. And I can attribute 99% of my frustration to 3 interchangeable words: whining, arguing and complaining. Dawson whines, Ella complains, Dawson whines, Ella argues when I tell her not to whine, Dawson then whines at Ella which she turns into a complaint to me. You get the drift. Thank the Lord above Dawson doesn't have a big enough vocabulary to argue yet, or let me tell you. Now I know this is my fault and I blame myself, okay, I blame Todd too. Let's be real, he helped create these little monsters. But I'm home with them all day and their behavior, good or bad, is really just a reflection of my parenting. So, with some inspiration courtesy of my cousin Dawn, who's light years ahead of me in the parenting department (hey, I'm kinda having fun with the whole space theme, can ya tell?), I set out to implement some great suggestions. The premise is based on a bible verse in Philippians which says, "do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God. . . in which you shine like the stars in the universe." So we made a sparkly, bedazzled and bejeweled star poster, and every time Ella does what I ask without whining, complaining or arguing, she gets to put a star sticker on the poster. I only got a pack of 24 stickers, and at the rate we're going, it could take all year to use them. But we are making progress. And the truth is, our ultimate goal always has been and will be our children's hearts. Right behavior means nothing if their hearts are unchanged. And a changed heart will naturally produce good behavior. So in small ways that make sense to them at their age, we will always try to get to the heart of the matter. And no matter how inhuman they seem at times, to me they are already shining little stars. It's just that at this point, you have to look past some really annoying habits to notice. So wish me luck, Rocketship Ruff is hoping for a smooth and successful mission.