Dear God, Why did you send me two?

When I was raising my first child, I heard alot about strong-willed children and even read a book about how to parent them. I was convinced #1 was strong-willed...until I had #2. Turns out #1 has a strong, confident personality but he's not strong-willed. But #2! Oh my, #2 seemed to be even more strong-willed than #1 but it turns out she's just dramatic. We call it G-I-R-L in our house. She seems to have a corner on the dramatics but at heart she is a people pleaser and truly wants to obey so therefore I have concluded (since having #3) that she is not strongwilled.

Now #3 is an entirely different story. Strong-willed! I finally concluded correctly! Are there challenges in raising ALL children? Yes of course. But I believe life is made more difficult by that very strong personality that doesn't want to obey or change their heart attitude. Hopeless? No. Harder? Yes!

Which brings me to my title question. I have always been a firm believer in the cliche that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. In the past few months, I have come to wonder if that is true after all. It is becoming apparent that God has granted me not one, but two strong-willed children. Number 4 is a girl and is definitely dramatic. But it's more than that. She is showing some definite signs of following in #3's footsteps. I have found myself already having to stand my ground with her or she thinks she can walk all over me. And she's just barely two. Needless to say, this has been a trying time for me figuring out what works for her as every child is different.

Maybe I'm just feeling in need of some extra prayers this week...