Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Jankovic, is a great little book that will help you figure out how to balance your busy days with young children and having family fun.  It reminded me of the days I had a houseful of my own little children and teenagers, and I was constantly wanting life to be more than meals, homeschooling, and chores- MANY chores. I wanted to have many memories of family fun. I am thankful I figured out how to have fun with my family and I hope you will be encouraged to plan meaningful moments with your family because of reading this book.

Rachel Jankovic has many great points in her book, but I want to focus on three that impacted me the most- overwhelm, body image, and authority.

Overwhelm

In the chapter called, “Watch Your Language,” Jankovic talks about being overwhelmed. She mentions how important it was to the word “overwhelmed” from her vocabulary. She worked hard at it because she God gave her the task of having twins along with three other little humans at the same time. So, when things got crazy with multiple little children all needing her at once, she told herself, “I’m not going to say, ‘I’m overwhelmed’ anymore.” Instead, she devised a 20 Minute Rule for when things seemed out of control. She would look at the clock and note what time it was. Then she would remind herself that in 20 minutes this crazy situation would be over, and she worked hard to improve the situation. 20 minutes was enough to take care of any crisis that came up. This is great advice when there are children, or other life situations, that could be difficult to handle in the moment.

Postpartum Body Image

In the chapter called “Me Time,” Jankovic talks about our womanly body being a tool. She writes, “Our bodies are tools not treasures. You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its 18-year-old form. Let it be used.” 

If your body is a tool, use it and maintain it. You may want to fix up your body by losing your baby weight or exercising to preserve your muscle and bone strength as you age. Maintain it, so you can use it some more for the work God gives you to do.

Our calling as Christian women is people oriented and centered around our husbands and children. If you want some quality ME time, make a date with your husband. Do something special with your children.

Authority

I loved this Jakovic quote from the chapter “A Gracious Law”: “I try to remember that my relationship with my children will, Lord-willing, be one of friendship far longer than it is one of authority… As they grow up and our authority is released, it should be releasing our relationship to friendship in that area.”

To put Jakovic’s thoughts in my own words, the goal of disciplining your children is to prepare them to walk alongside you under God’s authority, so be careful as you are disciplining them that you are always looking toward releasing your authority over your children. Give the children freedom to be under God’s and respond to His authority.

Conclusion

Years with little children can be difficult, but they can be doable with some thought and re-framing of our perspectives. Taking care to attend to the task at hand, being able to use and maintain the tool of our body that God has given us to care for our families, and recognizing that both the mother and her children are under God’s authority will help us through each day. Spend time prayerfully considering these thoughts and read the book, Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches, by Rachel Jakovic.

May God bless you on your wellness journey!

Joni

P.S. What experience do you have with the years of raising little children?