Giveaway time + Getting unstuck from the entitlement trap
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Have you ever read a book that you loved but at the same time you wanted to chuck it across the room and scream?
That was me while reading Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch. You might know Kristen as the writer behind the blog We Are That Family.
Each week Kristen brings the truth in her blog. She writes about her family, world issues and faith issues. When I got the chance to read an advanced copy of her book I jumped at it.
But when I started reading it I almost immediately regretted my decision. Not because the book wasn't phenomenal but because it was convicting.
In the book Welch talks about her struggle to teach her kids to paddle upstream as they work to walk in humility and learn to do things for themselves.
Parenting has always been hard work. Always. Let's not pretend it's harder today than it was 30 or 50 years ago. But there does seem to be an added pressure to make life for our kids magical and memorable while simultaneously making their lives easier.
But that wasn't the part that got to me. The part that got to me was when Welch talked about her own struggle with entitlement. It hit me like a brick between the eyes.
Am I entitled? Me? No. I am the woman who sits on hand-me-down furniture, who blogs about getting cheap diapers and buying her kids' used birthday gifts. I cannot be entitled. But oh I was wrong.
It happens in the small moments when something doesn't go my way. It happens when I am not as kind as I should be. Or when the internet is slow. Or when the people in front of me don't move at the pace I think they should.
And it happens when my kids are sitting next to me. Or when they're in the backseat of the car. It's a terrible example and frankly, not the person I want to be.
As Welch says in the book "Entitlement didn't start with my kids. It began with me. I entitled them because I was entitled."
I have so much work left to do.
I am also giving away a copy of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World. I do highly recommend it. Parenting upstream is hard and we all need the support and encouragement.
