“Hello, dear! How was your day?”
Today at lunch, “everything hit the fan,” as my sister Em would say. Rose spilled her milk and started crying loudly in dismay. Layne was hungry and wailing about it. Jay was drilling me on the finer points of the Big Bad Wolf’s morals. 3/4 of us were more or less covered in peanut butter. I was trying to make 3 lunches, feed a baby, and field impossible questions like “is the Big Bad Wolf bad all the time, yes or no, Mommy? yes or no?”
I’ve been really trying my best not to stress or lose patience in tricky situations. It is uphill work. It takes an incredible amount of focus, control, and [often desperate] praying. And sometimes a time-out for Mommy. [Inside a locked bathroom with the fan on to drown out any moans—mine on one side of the door or the kids’ on the other, you pick]
Thankfully I managed to see the humor through the chaos today, and I just let everyone cry and badger away while I paused to take a deep breath, get out the camera, and unclench my jaw for a brief (if somewhat grim) chuckle over the situation. I felt like a toy that 3 kids wanted all at once: one kid had me by the arms, one by the legs, and one by the ears, and they were all pulling at the same time. I honestly didn’t know which fire to put out first. Underneath my slightly tense nerves, it was hilarious! After a few minutes, I gathered my wits and started plugging in bottles, wiping up milk and philosophizing about good and evil.
In spite of my latest inroads to cool, collected patience, I think I’ll still need some alone time in a clean, quiet room tonight.
This morning, I took a series of amusing cousin pictures. I posted them in a chain straight from my camera:
Oh, kids. They stretch me to breaking point and then heal it all with a single GRIN (or a kiss or a hug, etc.). They are 100% worth the struggle for patience. My goal is to remember this next time (and every time) everything hits the fan.
4 comments:
So, though I don't look at your blog often enough, we watched your video earlier today and just looked at your blog. To which Braden both times asked me if that was Braden (Jay) and Brynlie (Rose)... it cracked me up that he thought he looked similar enough. I guess our kid timeframes are rather close, and they're nearly blonde-haired and Jay even has dimples like Braden! It made me smile, so I'm passing it on. And I'm impressed with your hit the fan recovery...
Glad to know I'm not the only one who locks herself in the closet from time to time : ) It is so true though about how children can be the cause of such heartache and in the same moment fill your heart with so much love and joy it might burst open! God's work at its best.
I TOTALLY know what you mean!! Parenting is hard and has it's unique difficulties with each stage and as they get older... but oh my heavens... absolutely worth it! Especially with the cheesiets of cheezy grins like that sweet little Rose! And I tried saying hi back to you on sunday :)... I too was corralled in by several little people :)
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