You’d think the third time would be easier to get going with nursing a baby. In some ways, it is, of course—you’re used to some of it, and you know some things that are normal. But once again I find myslef turning to the Internet for help and guidance with problems.
One of my favorite resources is kellymom. I came across a page called Are mothers supposed to love breastfeeding 24 hours a day?, and some of the thoughts there made me think of more than just breastfeeding:
Our culture has become so addicted to the concept that we are supposed to only do what makes us happy or brings us immediate joy, that we lose a lot of the good stuff along the way–pride in accomplishment, joy in fulfilling a commitment, feeling of achievement through meeting a goal. I don't think this means people are more selfish today than they were in the past, I just think they have been taught to have different expectations about what they are supposed to feel and how they should respond to those feelings.
How do you think we can re-learn how to “respond to those feelings”? Can we help our children learn a better way?
One reply on “Is it worth it?”
I think we learn those feelings of achievement when we accomplish something that takes time. How much more fulfilling is the achievement of a task that was hard than one that was simple? We have to teach our kids to work towards a goal without being immediately rewarded, starting with things like doing more than one chore for a treat or not getting a treat unless they’ve completely finished a chore instead of just helped clean something. Elder Uchtdorf recently related a story about a study where they gave children marshmallows and if the kids could wait to eat them they’d get more marshmallows. So the question becomes how do you teach your kid to resist the impulse for immediate rewards in exchange for greater ones later? Some kids are naturally good at this, but perhaps as parents we can help those who aren’t as good, learn to be better.