My kid is smarter than your kid.

Not really.  I just wanted you to read this. :)  My kids are smart though.  My two year old talks very well and we get compliments on her all the time.  She even knows how to use pronouns correctly!  She can count to twenty (almost), knows her ABC's, remembers names and faces, and has critical thinking abilities beyond her little two years.  I would LOVE to take the credit for all that but I can't.  My older girls have a lot to do with it though.  They talk with her, quiz her, and correct her if she says something the wrong way.  They read to her, play with her, and pray for her.  She is a blessed little girl.  She is also exactly who God created her to be.  He gets the credit for all those wonderful things!

When our oldest was little I read to her a lot.  She was very verbal and in my very naive new mom thinking, I thought it was because of me.  (Ha!)  I read to our second child just as much and she wasn't as verbal.  I began to learn one of the early lessons of parenthood - that it's not all about me.  

God created each one of my little people with their own gifts and abilities.  If one of my kids is good at math, it's not because she's the product of two accountants.  It's because God made her that way.  If one of my kids is extremely thoughtful, it's not because I'm such a great mom.  It's because God made her that way.  I can help those things along, (and if I'm doing my job I should be) but it's not all because of me.  It's so easy to want to take the credit for the neat things about our kids.

It's also easy to take the credit for our kids failings.  Some of those we may be responsible for.  As moms (and dads) we're only human and are going to make mistakes.  Just plan on that, because you're gonna.  Not everything is our fault though.  Our precious little people were also created with their own free will.  We can do everything possible to teach and train them but ultimately they will make their own choices.  Pray!  Do you're job - you're the parent.  And pray some more!  The younger they are when you're teaching and training them, the easier it will be on them.  And on you.  A two year old who throws a temper tantrum is a lot easier to deal with than an eleven year old who does it.  Nip that in the bud!  It won't be long before my kids are bigger than me.  Seriously.  It's easy for me to forget that and just go about physically making them mind.  That's not enough though.  They have to learn to obey to voice command.  And why do they need to obey?  Aside from their safety, kids need to learn to obey their parents because that is how we teach them to obey God.  I want my kids to obey God!  The consequences of disobeying Him are no fun!  

Pray that your children will get caught when they're sinning.  This gives you the chance to discipline, teach and train.  The younger they are when paying the consequences for their sins the easier it will be on them.  A sins of a six year old won't affect them for a lifetime like the sins of a twenty year old will.  

Anyways, I lost my train of thought a little but Lysa TerKeurst says it best:

1.   Don’t take too much credit for their good.
2.   Don’t take too much credit for their bad.
3.  Don’t try to raise a good child.  Raise a God-following adult.

Her blog post that goes along with this is wonderful.  Read it!

http://lysaterkeurst.com/2012/01/i-dont-want-to-raise-a-good-child/