Child Lessons

Part of my job at St. Ambrose is to help couples in preparing for their marriages. I love my job…my favorite day of my life was my wedding day. Some people may say their favorite day was the day their children were born…but those days for me were painful and tiring, and lead to 18 years of the hardest job ever! My wedding day, on the other hand, was all about Mike and me. We got to celebrate each other, our vocation to be a wife and husband, and the dreams of what came next.

When I talk with brides and grooms about their wedding preparation with Father Bob, I always tell them that he has magic words to explain things like communication, conflict resolution, expectations of each other and their families. Father Bob has such of an amazing perspective on life and always knows how to bring God into the situation. He does the same with family life.

Acronyms are a great teaching tool. Father Bob is never short on them. I use one of his acronyms in my Baptism classes…FAMILY.

Faith & Fun (You can always mix faith with some fun)

Attitude of Gratitude (You can always be thankful, no matter what the situation is)

Mealtime & Milestones (Use mealtime to celebrate even the smallest milestones)

Intergenerational Invitations (Great Aunt Mary has the best stories, ask her to share

them)

Listening & Loving (Your kids have to listen and love you, just like you have to listen to

and love them)

Yes! Say Yes to the Lord (There is always a way to serve the Lord together as a family)

My favorite part of FAMILY is the “L”. When my kids were little, I always interpreted listening and loving as the fact that they had to listen to me and love me when I was trying to parent them, even if they didn’t like what I had to say. But, as they got older, I realized that not only did the kids have to listen and love me when they were young…I have to listen to and love them as they got older and became the people God meant them to be, even if I don’t like what they have to say. The “L” in FAMILY is ever-evolving, just like parenting.

I love learning from my kids. Most times it’s humbling when I listen to them. So many lessons came from Collin, big and small. My big lesson this week came from Lincoln, my 7-year-old who reminded me of what unconditional love is. It’s been an emotional and stressful week filled with amazingly wonderful things, but still emotional and stressful. For me, emotional and stressful equals exhausted. To say the least, I have been cranky at the end of my days. With Mike traveling, sometimes it is hard to do all the mom AND dad things in life.

After a long day and busy night, I was a little short tempered with Lincoln. When we laid down for bed, I apologized for not being my best self throughout the evening. He simply said, “That’s okay mom. No matter how many mistakes you make, I will always love you. No matter what.”

It was my turn to listen to Lincoln, and he loved me-unconditionally. What better life lesson could I have asked for? When I needed it most, God sent me a little piece of Himself in my little man. The best lessons learned are from the beautiful hearts of our kids.

Kim Nemet

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