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Mother's Love – Unconditional Love
To equip and encourage
mothers of preschoolers and their supporters
May 2009
Mother Maxim
Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.
Mother Moment – Love Unconditionally
The honeymoon ended in the juice aisle of the grocery store. The social worker warned that once our new foster daughter felt comfortable in the family, she would act out to test our love and commitment to her, but after several weeks of sweet compliance, I decided she was the exception to the rule. I was wrong.
All she wanted was one of those syrupy, sugary, contains-no-fruit-juice drinks in a kid-sized plastic bottle. When I denied her request and moved on down the aisle, she pitched her little body onto the ground kicking and screaming. I'd never mothered a four-year-old before, so I thought I'd better follow the social worker's simple advice for handling tantrums, "Love unconditionally, but don't cave in." That meant I had to disregard my first plan -- give her the drink as quickly as possible -- and my second -- hide out in frozen foods until the tantrum ended. Wishing the social worker had been a bit more specific, I scooped up my screaming daughter and told her I loved her but she couldn't have the drink. She screamed louder.
The grocery store manager came to my aid (or maybe he was trying to keep the other customers from fleeing), put my groceries in the cold room and helped me to the car. Wise father of three that I had never seen before in my life, he reassured me that if I let her know I loved her without caving in, my daughter would eventually stop screaming when she didn't get her way. She screamed louder. Back home, she kept screaming until she fell asleep in the cocoon of my arms, both of us worn out by her tantrum.
Explosions of kicking and screaming occurred frequently for several exhausting weeks, but then, almost as quickly as they started, the tantrums stopped as my daughter realised the security of unconditional, unswerving love.
Love unconditionally, but don't cave in. The results may not be immediate, but they will come. And you won't regret the extra effort.
~ Shelly Radic excerpt from Mom, You Make It All Better,
edited by Elisa Morgan, MOPS
Mother's Heart
Dear God, teach me to love each child as you love me.
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MOPS Links etc
q In need of inspiration or therapy? Watch MOPS on: tangle (formerly GodTube)
q In case you haven't seen the clip of the month/year/decade : Susan Boyle singing
q http://devotionalchristian.com/ - a variety of online devotions in one place
q Have you got your own delivered-to-your-door subscription to New Zealand's MUMSense Magazine? Only $6 for 4 issues – fantastic! Buy extra copies to give as "Welcome to Motherhood" gifts. Buy several extras for friends and relatives dotted around New Zealand, so they can experience something of a MOPS morning - in print. Excellent encouragement if you're not living where a MOPS group is.
Subscribe anytime (now?) by sending cheque to:
MOPS MUMSense, P O Box 12-307, Hamilton – include a donation for MOPS (NZ) development too if you wish. Cheers!
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Thank your husband (favourite man!) this Mother's Day for making you a mother. 
Secure in God's love,
Johanna
MUM-e-Mail editor
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