So they CAN act civilized...

I've begun to wonder lately if my children have just lost their minds or if I have reached the limit of my parenting abilities. In the past few weeks my kids have been on a rampage. There has been more yelling, crying, fighting, etc. between my kids than ever. Today at church, my youngest three embarassed me to no end by running through a meeting of child care workers, screaming and playing chase (I can't apologize enough, Jessica). Needless to say, by the end of church WE HAD HAD IT! Rather than lose it, my husband met all the children out at the van and expressed his disappointment at their behavior and began to list for each of them the behavior that we should be able to expect from them. He never once raised his voice or called out one of the children. I think he may have even made a joke in there somewhere. I would have handled it a much louder way, but somehow I think his way worked. We went to lunch and all of the children sat, ate, and acted civilized for the first time in weeks. We even caved and let them have ice cream we were so shocked. When we all piled in the van, a chorus of "sorries" rang through. This time, I almost fell out of the van from the shock. My children do not apologize, as a rule (not my rule, theirs). The effect of my husband's little expectation speech has weighted heavily on them the whole day. I am still in awe. The whole situation has made me think about something I read in my Esther bible study last week. "Your mood is not your mindset". I have a hard time remembering that. I have let my mood wreak havoc through my family for too long. This morning, after church, I was so angry that, had I been given the chance to speak, I would surely have hurt everyone's feelings, our lunch and rest of the day would have been ruined. There are a lot of responsibilities as a parent, and I take them very seriously, but this one seems to slip by me everytime. I am responsible for the mood of my family. "If mama ain't happy, no ones happy" is a very valid argument. So, today I start my journey on purposefully having my mind set, rather than let my mood dictate my life. Pray for me...