game on, part 3

things are going so so with maggie. i have my on days, and my not so on days. i have let her slip a few times today. where my focus has been is on my second oldest. we have noticed that he kind of rolls through life just seeing what good can come his way, and not so much what good he can send other's way. today we had a long chat about siding with your friends instead of your family. he tends to join in on his buddy's point of view, even if it means ganging up on his little brother. his daddy explained to him very clearly that isn't how we roll in this house. family is first, far and above. you stick up for your siblings. no argument.
its so funny to me that you can raise your children in the same house, in pretty similar ways, and they all turn out so different. my oldest is so great about sticking up for her little siblings, for always wanting to please us, to do the right thing, because she knows it is the best choice - even though it is not the easy choice. this always applies to sticking up for what is right on the bus, at school - wherever it may be. you don't just stand back when people are picking on somebody. it is an inborn character trait she possesses. i gave her a quote i read once that says "why try so hard to fit in, when you were made to stand out." the girl is really trying to live by that.
we are teaching the other kids these traits, and i sure hope it sinks in eventually. i think i am learning along the way that being a good parent is hard work. it is much harder work than any thing i do at the hospital or college that results in an actual paycheck. it would be so much easier to just let them immerse themselves in video games, tv, books, whatever their vice is. it is hard work to show them how to be productive little members of our household. it is hard work to enforce punishments when they have messed up. sometimes it is also hard work to just be fully engaged with them when you are tired and would rather just veg out with a magazine or play on pinterest.
i am again finding myself so grateful that i have a husband at home to help me with these things. i can't imagine trying to keep up with just the daily tasks, and then attempt to do the really good, hard parenting on top of them by myself. even with two people working at it there are often times we get tired and get lazy. we just keep trying. it seems some days we fill them with more criticism than compliments. when we have a cruddy day and we really mess up - we say our prayers at night and ask for help to do better the next day.