I collapsed in bed last night. Exhausted. Began telling Josh of the adventures he missed out on…
I was feeding Bubs on the couch when I hear a little voice yell, “Mom I peed in the bathroom!”
“You went pee on the potty?”
“No! I peed on the floor!”
Aye…
“Stay right there! Don’t leave the bathroom!”
I finish feeding my son and head to see what new mess awaits me. The picture that greets me is a puddle of pee and a half naked G waving about a drumstick as she plays in the toilet. Ugh.
I place her in the tub and tell her to stay right there while I get a towel from the laundry room. Upon my return I see naked cheeks whiz past me headed to the bedroom. Dangit. The beast escaped. Of course, she jumps into her bed, and I yell, “Get out of your bed! You’re covered in pee!” Aye…
I finish cleaning up and take the baby to change his diaper. G walks in.
“Mom, I colored on the floor.”
I turn to see her holding a marker. Dangit.
Slowly, I approach, hand outstretched, and in hushed tones I ask for the marker. My ploy works as the animal senses no danger and relinquishes the object.
Josh makes all the appropriate sympathy remarks as I relay the story. I’m neither frustrated nor in tears. Not at the end of my rope. I’m not even venting. This is just life. Normal, everyday, never-boring life. (The above story was about 15 minutes of the 14 waking hours I spend with my kids).
Josh has a revelation: We are intelligent people dealing with, at times, unintelligent behavior. We are “forced to operate at a lower level” as we hear ourselves say things like, “Don’t wipe your face with your underwear!” We wonder how the things we are teaching don’t seem to be getting through. Go pee on the potty. Lean over your plate when you eat. Don’t touch the couch with hummus on your hands. When does the common sense come?
And, yet, I wonder if years from now we will be wishing we were dealing with pee on the floor. As our children become young adults and make decisions independent of us, will we wish the “unintelligent behavior” was as easy to clean up as pee on the floor? Or as harmless as hummus on the couch? Probably.
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)
So I choose to enjoy this season of life, because the next one is quickly coming and this one will be gone forever. Yes, sometimes I feel like I’m raising a wild animal, but then there are times when I’m blown away by the intelligence and the kindness of this little human being we created. Ecclesiastes 3 goes on to say in verse 15, “And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.” I plan to, quite literally, enjoy the fruits of my (very painful) labor 😉
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3