I am a broken record. . . play me again ;)

"You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

"Because I said so."

"Because its good for you."

"No."

"Not yet."

"Wait."

These are just a few of the things I say. Repeatedly. Every day. Repetition is boring. But its also a big part of motherhood.

I've heard it said that it takes 30 days to create a habit. And we are to train our children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6). We are to train our children, to create good habits that will benefit them when they are older, that will make them more successful, better able to deal with life, better people to share our world with. If it takes 30 days of being consistent to create a habit and on average 10 times a day repeating the same thing over and over again to get them to listen, then it would take on average 300 times saying the same thing consistently without "letting them slide this time" or "cutting them some slack" to create one good habit. Now, if your child is extra stubborn (I think I have 4 of those) or if you aren't consistent or if they have a random relapse and suddenly start doing the bad habit again after months of not doing it (think toilet training for example), you may have to say the same thing many more times than 300 to create a good habit.

Then we get into the fact that you probably want your child to have more than one good habit. What do you think that means? You got it. . . more repeating.

I have, on occasion, had to tell Addy the same thing 3 times within as many minutes, at which time I usually tell her she can ask me a million times in a million slightly different ways and the answer will remain the same. That usually buys me about 5 minutes. Repetition gets old fast. And it gets boring just as fast, maybe even faster. But I would rather be bored and say the same answer a million times and in doing so create a good habit (or stifle a bad one) that will be beneficial to my child in specific and the world in general than give up after the 300th time and hope it sinks in when she gets older. I love her that much.

So I am a broken record, Lord. Play me again and again. And let my child learn to do what is right and bless her all the days of her life. In Jesus' name I pray this over each of my beautiful, stubborn girls. Amen.