The Kids Are Capable of Leading

One of my biggest fears has to do with my kids walking in front of me in public places. I'm constantly telling them, "Don't get to far ahead of the family!" But why? The beauty about growing up is the freedom to explore. My kids have been blessed with knack to test the waters with few inhibitions. Also, we constantly encourage them to lead. So why in this situation do I hold them back? I'm learning to except my kids as they are and spend more time guiding instead of forcing! The bible states that we are train up our children in the way they should go... (Proverbs 22:6) So why should I not trust them enough to go? If I've done my part, they are capable of leading!



-posted by Mocha6 on the move!

Location:Ballpark Way,Arlington,United States

Not My Will...

One of the greatest challenges we have as parents are making educational decisions for your child as they begin middle school; the transition period. This year has been very challenging for Paris. Getting comfortable with the responsibility of having 8 Pre AP classes with rigorous homework requirements each evening.  Now up to now, school has always come easy for Paris, but the work load is a bit much for her. Her best subjects are still strong, but I was beginning to think that her Fine Arts major (Choral) was more of a distraction rather than an aid to enhance her cognitive skills.

Friday morning, Paris and I had a discussion about possible changing her Fine Arts emphasis to orchestra, something with research behind it that states the ability to improve learning. Well, the conversation went well as she considered the notion. My impetus was that fact that we are a family of singers. My dad was a Gospel recording artist along with several other family members who have either recorded or produced in the music industry. I myself had a brief stint in this world, before the Lord brought me back to my senses. However, God has used me tremendously as a Praise and Worship leader. So, singing comes easy for Paris; I just wanted her to try something more challenging. I'm just being a dad.

That evening, Paris's school took 17 students to the Regional Chorus tryouts where over 500 students were there to compete for 60 spots. To make a long story short, Paris earned 1st Chair honors for Soprano 1. We received the news at 11:45 PM at 11:46, God said to me... lean not to thine own understanding... I smiled and replied Not My Will, but thine be done. As a parent it's important to get down from the parent  pedastool and get on our knees to look at our children in the eyes. It was made obvious to me that night that she'll get through this year just fine and that I need not panic, but trust that God knows what he is doign.

It's On Them

So far 2013 has been a great year. Oh, we are only 20 days in? Oh well, count your blessings while you can. I have found that the issue of explaining to people what it is like raising 4 kids is very difficult because I rarely have time to sit down on this blog and explain. However, I need to do it more often simple because it's my release and mechanism for remembering my victories and epic fails as a parent and just maybe, someone would receive a blessing from what I say. This week was extremely wonderful. My wife and I celebrated our birthdays and got the chance to do things together, alone, that we don't normally get to do. We needed that time just to sit and talk and laugh and simply get away. We enjoyed many free perks and got the chance to recharge for the moment. At the same time, it's the end of the semester for the Paris and Brian, which means Semester Exams. Tasha and I are trying to help our two oldest develop good study habits and an intrinsic desire to do well, but they seem so districted and not interested in studying over and over until they have it. Well, I wasn't like that either as a student, so I can't be too upset...it's my fault. However, as a parent you want your children to succeed in everything. Make the highest grade in class, do all the extra credit, receive all the honors, but when you sit back and think about it, are we as parents pushing them for their sake or are we concerned about how it will make us look? I would say the latter is more often the case. So Tasha and I have learned to put the responsibility on them. We decided that we will pat them on the back, praise and reward them when they do well, encourage them when they don't meet the high standards we set, and explain our disappointment when they don't even try. There are consequences for failure at home, school and society, but Paris and Brian have to want success for themselves. I can't force or beat it into them. I guess that's why the Holy Spirit works from within!

The beautiful thing about the inner struggles Paris and BJ are going through is they are only 11 and 8. The blessing is they are experiencing this at a very early age and prayerfully will have learned some valuable lessons before life really gets hard. The cool thing is realizing how favored I am having had gone through that same thing and I turned out...well, pretty good. They will too!

Do as I Say, Not As I Do?

I'm starting to understand a ton about myself by raising 4 kids. I've learned that its hard to consistently blog, getting any personal work done and rest. However, the greatest challenge is setting the right example for my kids.
Paris has been struggling making the transition from elementary to middle school and it has been quite difficult for Tasha and I to take, especially with the gifts that Paris possesses. However, as I sat down with her to help out with her homework I was mystified by the frustration level I reached when Paris couldn't put the pieces together to solve the problem. Normally, I'm not angered, but the I was getting heated until I looked at her, I mean at myself and realized how much of a bad example I was setting. I always tell my kids that getting angry, frustrated and mad is a waist if time. Those are emotions that are a deterrent to coming up with a solution. However, here I was, portraying the opposite. We always want our kids to react in the most positive manner to any potentially difficult encounter. Therefore, I need to exemplify that behavior in front of them at all time. Saying is not enough, if you don't plan to live it.


-posted by Mocha6 on the move!

Daddy BALLOONS!

Family Fest

People always tell me to enjoy my kids while I can and that's always the best advice. Today I got to see exuberance in its purest form. The Mocha 6 went to the Plano Ballon Festival to watch hot hair balloons launch into the skies. Im always promoting family outings and this is one that I endorse. However, Jericho and London had a blast. While, I'm thanking God that I chose to go to the opposite side of the park to avoid paying for parking, London is screaming with excitement has the colors fill the air. Jericho is finding extreme joy in counting all the balloons.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Plano, TX

The First Week, 39 More To Go

Ok, summer vacation is over and it's time to get back to the reality of living the busy life. Mom and I are back to work, and we now have. 3 out of the 4 in school. Jericho started Pre-K, BJ is now in the 3rd grade and Paris entered her first year of Middle School. However, that's 3 kids in 3 different schools. We are blessed enough to have some help as you know, Grammy stays with us and does the transporting to and from school.

So far so good, the kids had a great first week. Each night at dinner, everybody had a chance to talk about their day. Paris talked for ever the first night, which was probably intentional in order to extend the evening so she didn't have to go to bed. However as the week went on, we had to shorten the comments to the most exciting moment in the day. By Friday, the best part of everyone's day was coming home to share. What a great week!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Picking Their Friends

Proverbs 22:6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.(NIV) My oldest, Paris, turned 11 this week and it has taken me this long to recover from the swimming/slumber party. Now, I don't tolerate noise very well, but I promised my wife that I would not say a word about the noise level with the understanding that 11 tweenie girls will romp around my house for nearly 36 hours. Ok, I had to promise twice because when I first mentioned it to Tasha, within 90 seconds I was already fussing. So, on my second go-round I went into my observant mode. As Paris has gotten older, Tasha and I have tried to allow Paris to hang with her little girlfriends more often. Be it via Skype or actual visits, we want to be more comfortable with it. We are the kind of parents though that has to know who the child is, who their parents are, where they live and have been to their homes to ensure that things are on the up and up. So, all the girls present checked out initially. However, we had to sit Paris down after the party and talk about choosing friends. 2 of the young ladies my daughter will not be able to hang out with any more due to how they treated Paris and my home. Now, some people think that I'm cruel for this demand, including Paris, but my daughter is my responsibility and God has put me in charge to train her up in the way she should go. Paris doesn't have the insight that Tasha and I have and I'm not in this gig as Dad to necessarily do everything to please my kids. We do things for our kids to teach, protect, guide and support them. Sometimes it may be hard and they may get upset, but I will always try to make decisions based on the Word of God regardless the reception from my children. Funny thing is, after thinking about it for some time, Paris is now in complete agreement with the decision. That's nothing but the Holy Spirit working within.