I was so surprised a few weeks ago when I told Landon it was time to say a prayer over the food at dinner time and he did and bowed his head, but as I started the prayer I was quietly interrupted.
It seems that Landon wanted to say the prayer... so I sat there quiet (and very much pleased)...
I don't think I could make anything out,
but it touched my heart more than anything has in a while.
I think that as mothers in the church we stand in awe of our little ones when they finally start wanting to communicate to their Heavenly Father on their own. It's something that I have very much hoped for, but didn't know when it would happen or if it would happen. So when it finally did and has continued for almost every prayer since then, I have been silently thanking my Father in Heaven.
It's hard being on your own and not having someone else to bounce parenting ideas or techniques off of while trying to raise a little one of your own in the church and especially in these days. I have worried and worried over the trials Landon will have to face and the many temptations that seems to surround him. But there are some lately that have blind-sided me and caused me some anxiety.
I have recently learned that his dad is now smoking and sometimes drinking. When I dropped Landon off to James, on my birthday weekend, I saw a pack of cigarettes fall out of the car when he was climbing out from buckling Landon in. I happened to ask him if they were his and I think he told me that they were a friend's that had been in his car. I didn't think much about it, but then the thought kept nagging at me. So later that week I called him up and mentioned that I was taking Landon to the doctor for a check-up and wanted to see if I should answer "yes" to the question of people around him smoking. Finally it came out that he was smoking. I know that he smokes in his car (which Landon rides in) but not inside his apartment, thank goodness.
So now I worry about Landon seeing his Dad smoke and growing up to think it's ok to smoke and drink for that matter, even though I am fairly certain that doesn't happen with Landon around. But it still worries me nonetheless. I have found myself praying for him and the life that he's not leading. I am worried about the influence he'll have on Landon if he continues down this road.
I grew up with a father that drank (and drinking is an addiction that he's still fighting today) and that has created a lot of memories I wish I didn't have to have, but have learned to cope with.
I sure hope Landon won't have to go through those experiences either.
Landon has also been helping me with a lot too! He loves to unlock the door. This happens when I put the key into the door and he turns the key and attempts to open the door by himself, but our front door sticks sometimes and so I help. He wants to help me carry in groceries and cook and hang up clothes and whatever it is that I'm doing at the time.
He is really into making farting noises with his mouth now while turning his bum towards you... I sure hope this doesn't last long. He also loves to run around the house butt naked and run from me when I try to wrestle him down to put him into pajamas. Most of the time he dresses himself now and only has a hard time with putting his shoes on without the tounge of the shoe going down into the bottom at his toes. It's hysterical to watch him take off and put on shirts because he has to spin in circles as he's trying to get his arms in or out of his shirts... it makes me laugh every time!
Lately when I put him to bed we read a book together after prayers and then I rock with him for a while. Once it's been a few minutes, asleep or not, I put him in his big boy twin bed and every night even if he's half asleep he'll ask for a book to read. So I put a couple beside him and close the door. He's a sweetheart and loves to give hugs and kisses. I had someone tell me the other day that he pronounces his t's very well. I hadn't noticed that until they said something and since then I have noticed that he does in fact make sure to hit and pronounce every T in he sentence he's trying to get out.
I love him so much and really hope that he can withstand the temptations of this world and come out on the other end. I hope to raise him so that he is close to the church and to his Father in Heaven, has close friends that uplift him and are good, and with a desire to serve others and a mission. How badly I want to see the scripture Proverbs 22:6 come to pass in my life:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he shall not depart from it."
I am so proud of Landon and the progress he's made and the huge landmarks he's crossed already. Potty-trained, talking, and praying little guy! Gotta Love Him! He's mine and I am so grateful to be entrusted with him while he's and I are here on this earth, and then even after this world goes by. I'm so thankful for that knowledge of the gospel and the resurrection.
It seems that Landon wanted to say the prayer... so I sat there quiet (and very much pleased)...
I don't think I could make anything out,
but it touched my heart more than anything has in a while.
I think that as mothers in the church we stand in awe of our little ones when they finally start wanting to communicate to their Heavenly Father on their own. It's something that I have very much hoped for, but didn't know when it would happen or if it would happen. So when it finally did and has continued for almost every prayer since then, I have been silently thanking my Father in Heaven.
It's hard being on your own and not having someone else to bounce parenting ideas or techniques off of while trying to raise a little one of your own in the church and especially in these days. I have worried and worried over the trials Landon will have to face and the many temptations that seems to surround him. But there are some lately that have blind-sided me and caused me some anxiety.
I have recently learned that his dad is now smoking and sometimes drinking. When I dropped Landon off to James, on my birthday weekend, I saw a pack of cigarettes fall out of the car when he was climbing out from buckling Landon in. I happened to ask him if they were his and I think he told me that they were a friend's that had been in his car. I didn't think much about it, but then the thought kept nagging at me. So later that week I called him up and mentioned that I was taking Landon to the doctor for a check-up and wanted to see if I should answer "yes" to the question of people around him smoking. Finally it came out that he was smoking. I know that he smokes in his car (which Landon rides in) but not inside his apartment, thank goodness.
So now I worry about Landon seeing his Dad smoke and growing up to think it's ok to smoke and drink for that matter, even though I am fairly certain that doesn't happen with Landon around. But it still worries me nonetheless. I have found myself praying for him and the life that he's not leading. I am worried about the influence he'll have on Landon if he continues down this road.
I grew up with a father that drank (and drinking is an addiction that he's still fighting today) and that has created a lot of memories I wish I didn't have to have, but have learned to cope with.
I sure hope Landon won't have to go through those experiences either.
Landon has also been helping me with a lot too! He loves to unlock the door. This happens when I put the key into the door and he turns the key and attempts to open the door by himself, but our front door sticks sometimes and so I help. He wants to help me carry in groceries and cook and hang up clothes and whatever it is that I'm doing at the time.
He is really into making farting noises with his mouth now while turning his bum towards you... I sure hope this doesn't last long. He also loves to run around the house butt naked and run from me when I try to wrestle him down to put him into pajamas. Most of the time he dresses himself now and only has a hard time with putting his shoes on without the tounge of the shoe going down into the bottom at his toes. It's hysterical to watch him take off and put on shirts because he has to spin in circles as he's trying to get his arms in or out of his shirts... it makes me laugh every time!
Lately when I put him to bed we read a book together after prayers and then I rock with him for a while. Once it's been a few minutes, asleep or not, I put him in his big boy twin bed and every night even if he's half asleep he'll ask for a book to read. So I put a couple beside him and close the door. He's a sweetheart and loves to give hugs and kisses. I had someone tell me the other day that he pronounces his t's very well. I hadn't noticed that until they said something and since then I have noticed that he does in fact make sure to hit and pronounce every T in he sentence he's trying to get out.
I love him so much and really hope that he can withstand the temptations of this world and come out on the other end. I hope to raise him so that he is close to the church and to his Father in Heaven, has close friends that uplift him and are good, and with a desire to serve others and a mission. How badly I want to see the scripture Proverbs 22:6 come to pass in my life:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he shall not depart from it."
I am so proud of Landon and the progress he's made and the huge landmarks he's crossed already. Potty-trained, talking, and praying little guy! Gotta Love Him! He's mine and I am so grateful to be entrusted with him while he's and I are here on this earth, and then even after this world goes by. I'm so thankful for that knowledge of the gospel and the resurrection.
