King of the Castle

Reader,


The title of this blog refers to all the lessons of life I have learned within my home since becoming a mom. The funny thing is that I have also started homeschooling my son on a part time schedule. So today's story comes from the first week of homeschooling.

If you are a parent, step-parent, foster parent, nanny or teacher you understand the term "king of the castle" in trueness of its depth. Grandparents get to skip this hilarious game for the most part unless your little pumpkin(s) live with you, because as a grand-parent you are wrinkly and thus children know not to mess with you. Alas as a parent we do not have the crowning glory of wrinkles yet and so our children feel the need to help with the development. The entire first week of homeschool consisted of Dominic and I playing King of the Castle. He would tell me how to run my house and I would sit on his face. Then he would order me around like his slave and I would again sit on his face. He would cry and whine and carry on and I would ignore him or send him off to take a nap until he was in his right mind to be around another human being and the saga continued for about 7 or 8 days. My kid is a trooper and stubborn, but I am the Queen of this Castle and not to be messed with. :)

I don't know about you, but I remember when my mom and dad would be so sick of arguing with me. During that week I think I gathered a new understanding of what it must have been like to have spawned me and then been forced to raise me and claim me as their own. Trust me my younger brother was worse than me, so take a moment to feel sorry for my parents. My older brother was a peach...or so he thinks, but I wasn't around yet and do not have much firsthand knowledge of his adolescent schemes. My younger brother is not let off as easy, because I was there for everything blah ah ah! But that is for another blog on another day. I was humbled at the stamina my son had to argue his point until I wanted to poke my own eyeballs out. I have to admit that this first week of homeschooling I begged God to forgive me for this terrible mistake I had made...hahaha...it is wonderful now, but I didn't know then what I know now.

We are now in our third week of homeschooling and I enjoy it immensely. Dominic has sunk into a routine now and is eager to learn. As I was in the shower this morning thinking of how far we have come in the last three weeks, I felt the Holy Spirit draw a parallel. I have been playing a game of King of the Castle myself these last few months. It didn't turn out in Dominic's favor and I guess it would behoove me to keep this in mind next time I want to throw a tantrum and tell God what my life should look like. Gotta love it when God gives you a living analogy in your own home to constantly remind you of what you look and act like on a regular basis.


Laura Araujo