Partners in Parenting

 “What Do You Notice?”

Last Thursday, we celebrated the Detroit Tigers beginning their playoff run.  Students and staff were allowed to wear jeans and Detroit Tigers shirts, hats, etc.  I do not have a Detroit Tigers shirt, so I decided to wear my orange shirt since that is one of the team colors.  Before long, I found Jacob Hardy wearing an orange shirt like mine (non-Tigers).

I said, “Nice shirt.”

He replied, “Thanks, you too!” 

And we started to laugh together.  So I decided to ask for a picture together because we both dressed in blue jeans, an orange shirt, and a Tigers hat.  We felt an incredible bond because we dressed exactly alike for Tigers Day!!!

I had someone take our picture on my phone.  Then, I showed Jacob the picture.  He started out smiling, then looked rather serious.  He turned to me with a “sarcastically sad” look on his face and said, “You should have worn darker jeans!”

Ha!  We laughed together before he bounded off to class.  But I did think about his comment a number of times during the day, and eventually, my thoughts landed on my family at home.  We are a group of 5 Petzolds who are very much alike, and yet, we are also slightly different in some ways, vastly different in other ways, and polar opposites in many other ways.  But every night, we all go to bed as a Petzold.  We are alike, but we are also different.  I think that is good most of the time, but noticing the differences and similarities helps us effectively “do life” together.  Just like in the church:  “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts: and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.”  I Corinthians 12:12

Family Discussion Points!

Talk about how your family is the same and how each person is different.

Who in your family makes weird noises when they get upset?  Where did they learn that from?  And does the rest of the family notice it?  Laugh a little bit with this one.  I know it happensJ

God made us all different.  That must be a great thing or He wouldn’t have done that!  Talk about why He would create people with different bodies, attitudes, passions, likes, dislikes, personalities, etc.

If you are really crazy, try to have everyone dress exactly alike and take a picture.  Then send it to me.  I’d love to see it!!!