Okay. I’ll admit it. I’m not ashamed. I’m a mom, and sometimes I am sneaky.

It’s for my children’s good, and so I think I get a pass on the whole sneaky thing. Let me give you some examples of my sneakish behavior, and you can decide for yourself.
At the end of summer I feel the need to ease my kids into school mode. It’s easy to accomplish with the youngest. Last summer, I dug out his math workbook from the previous school year, and had him work on double digit addition and subtraction. He did it quickly, and without fuss. Love that boy.

In walked my daughter. Love the girl, too, but if I asked her to sit down, and review some basic math she would never go for it. She is three years older than her brother, and loves to boss him around. So I assigned her the role of teacher, and told her to grade his papers. She used mental math to check his answers. Ha. See? Sneaky. That’s a two for one deal. Who doesn’t love twofers?

Have I won you over yet? No? Okay.

All of my kids spend a lot of time in the bathroom. A lot. So I have become more strategic in my book selections for the pretty basket in there. I no longer care so much how they look with the décor.

Now I have books with positive messages and sound bite wisdom.

Now I have books with positive messages and sound bite wisdom. Now when I go in to straighten up the bathroom, I am encouraged to find the books a bit strewn. Is that sneaky or what? They’re getting the message, and I don’t get the eye rolls! Once again we all win. Surely I’ve won you over to my way of thinking now.

Just in case there are any lingering doubters out there, I’ll share my sneakiest trick so far. I’ve been doing this for years, and they are all still unaware of it or the ongoing effects it is having on their lives. For years I have prayed for my kids. Sounds simple? Maybe you do this. I hope that you do.

I have prayed for their hearts to be open to the love of Jesus, and so far my husband and I have had the privilege of praying with them all to trust Jesus as their Savior. Now I pray for those relationships to grow sweeter. I also pray for the three young women that will marry my three boys, and the one young man that will one day marry my daughter. I have prayed that these people love God, follow Jesus, and listen to the Holy Spirit directing their paths. I have prayed that these special people will love my children with a life long love, and that they love our big, loud, crazy family. I also stick in there that they must love UNO. We play some wild games of UNO in our family. There are some UNO haters out there. That would be tragic.

I have prayed for the relationships my kids have with teachers, friends, and each other. I have prayed for their health, safety, recital performances, and spelling tests. Many times my prayers occur under cover of night as I stand over them watching them sleep. I wake up sometimes at night, and sometimes I think I’ve been awakened to pray for them. Yet other times the little victims are standing right in front of me in broad daylight. Those are the on the run prayers when urgent needs slam into them. As my kids get older I find urgent needs come along more and more.

The Apostle Paul encouraged Christians to pray without ceasing. I think that is particularly good advice for moms.

Mostly, I’m a pretty straightforward kind of person. What you see is what you get, but I do admit to having this sneaky side. Hey, it works. I’ve seen it, and the good news is it’s never too early or too late to join me. We could start a club. Order shirts. Make up a Sneaky Moms handshake. What do you say?

I’ll just bet I’m not the only sneaky mom out there- come on, share your secrets.