Tweenies, Ugh!

I was reading 1 Timothy 3 today and Paul was laying our instructions concerning leadership. I got to the point in verse 4 where he mentioned a leader being one who keeps his children under control and I thought of my little tweenie Paris. For those that don't know, a tweenie is a person not quite the age of a teenager, between the ages of 10 to 12. Paris would rather spend all day upstairs secluded from the family while texting (from her ipod of course, not quite ready for a phone), watching YouTube videos or Skyping and Voxing with her friends and cousins. She wakes up with attitude, especially if the sun is still up and complains vehemently if she has to go to bed before sun up. Paris is going through that stage of not wanting to be treated like a child, but refuses to raise her maturity level beyond that of a child. Well, actually, she is a child. The true problem is what she sees in the world. Her friends have this, watch this, listens to that. Her friends talk like this, dress like that and get to do whatever they want to do. She hates anything that is not technology driven with the exception of reading. However, ask her to clean her room or empty the dishwasher and she thinks that world has ended. 

So that is what we deal with, but the key is to approach her with the mindset that I was once in her shoes. I've learned to realize that Paris is the reincarnation of myself. I guess that's why I stay on her so much. I try to give 2 positives to every negative when conversing with her, but more importantly, I try to point everything back to the Word of God. As I continue to grow as a Kingdom Man, the Holy Spirit reveals to me how to nurture Paris through this stage she is going through. I have learned to apologize to her when I approach her interesting actions incorrectly. I've learned to allow her to talk, and yes, I listen. Most importantly, I have learned to waver. I've accepted that my first born may not like my decisions very much, but as long as I continue to put her future first in everything I do, she'll learn to understand. We will get through the tweenie stage only to reach the teen stage, but if we tackle this stage now, maybe the teenage years won't be so bad... wishful thinking. Gotta love being a parent.