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 I’m a full-time mother with three children
in the preschool years. I love them like crazy, but I am exhausted
from just trying to keep up with them. I also feel emotionally isolated by being here in the
house every day of the week. What do you suggest for mothers like
me?
I
talk to many women like you who feel that they’re on the edge
of burnout. If they have to do one more load of laundry or tie one
more shoe, they feel like they will explode. In today’s mobile,
highly energized society, young mothers are much more isolated than
in years past. Many of them hardly know the women next door, and
their sisters and mothers may live a thousand miles away.
That’s
why it is so important for those with small children to stay in
touch with the outside world. Though it may seem safer and less
taxing to remain cloistered within the four walls of a home, it
is a mistake to do so. Loneliness does bad things to the mind. Furthermore,
there are many ways to network with other women today, including
church activities, Bible study groups, and supportive programs such
as “Moms in Touch” and “Mothers of Preschoolers.”
Husbands
of stay-at-home mothers need to recognize the importance of their
support, too. It is a wise man who plans a romantic date at least
once a week and offers to take care of the children so mom can get
a much-needed break.
Burnout
isn’t inevitable in a busy household.
+ + +
Explain in greater detail the role of power in the life
of a teenager.
Let’s
begin with a definition. Power is the ability to control others,
to control our circumstances and, especially, to control ourselves.
The lust for it lies deep within the human spirit. We all want to
be the boss, and that impulse begins very early in life. Studies
show that 1-day-old infants actually “reach” for control
of the adults around them. Even at that tender age, they behave
in ways designed to get their guardians to meet their needs.
The
desire for power is evident when a toddler runs from his mother
in a supermarket, or when a 10-year-old refuses to do her homework,
or when a husband and wife fight over money. We see it when an elderly
woman refuses to move to a nursing home. The common thread between
these and a thousand other examples is the passion to run our own
lives — and everything else if given the chance. People vary
in the intensity of this urge, but it seems to motivate all of us
to one degree or another.
Now,
what about your sons and daughters? Have you wondered why they come
home from school in such a terrible mood? Have you asked them why
they are so jumpy and irritable through the evening? Perhaps they
are unable to describe their feelings to you, but they may have
engaged in a form of combat all day. Even if they haven’t
had to fight with their fists, it is likely that they are embroiled
in a highly competitive, openly hostile environment where emotional
danger lurks on every side.
Excerpted
from books written by Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and
published by Tyndale House.
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