Whew! What a week! Write this one down in the books as one to forget! Having a baby with a cold is no fun! All she wants is Mommy when she isn't feeling good. I feel so badly for her stuffy little nose & drainage in her ears, yet it is so hard to have patience with 7 nights of no sleep! Lexi & Petra also had slight colds/coughs the past week, so it's been a triple whammy. I'm sure those of you with kids know how easily they pass it around! Although I knew that Nova's whining had to do with not feeling good, I must admit that I lost it several times with all three of them in the past 4 days. I wish I could take it all back, but alas, I made wrong choices & am now stuck with the guilt of "going crazy". Isn't it amazing, though, how quickly young 'uns forgive & forget? Nova still prefers me over anyone else. She still reaches for me 24-7 and wants my hugs & kisses. She still smiles when I whisper in her ear (one of her favorite things) or tell her "Say, mooooo..." Forgetting that I got so frustrated when she wouldn't stop screaming or pushed her spoon away, flinging oatmeal & blueberries at breakfast & squash at lunch...all over the tray & mommy's arm. Yet, she still wants me to cuddle her before bed. And how Lexi & Petra seem to forget that I was so angry over a bowl of milk & cereal in Lexi's hair or Petra's fork somehow stabbing potato chips, creating yet another mess to clean up! Why would they still want me to read to them before naps, or tell me 500 times that they love me? Aaah, the love of little girls. How often I soon remember they are God's gift to me, one I don't deserve. Too often, I take them for granted. Too often, I lose my temper. Too often, I forget to extend the same love, comfort & grace to them that God offers me when I make a mess of my life! And so, I must ask their forgiveness & learn somehow, to remember to pause before discipline. I need to learn how to laugh at the milk dripping down Lexi's sweet face & see Petra's creativity with a fork! I must know that a cold only lasts 7-10 days, not forever, when my baby is extra fussy. I will somehow find a way to surrender my frustrations/anger to the One who has an endless patience for my childish ways & mistakes!
Just a note, here are the other "frustrating" things that happened this week. Most of you will look at these & laugh. Now that I am less stressed, I probably will think about the "cuteness" of my children:
1. Lexi & Petra both weigh 40-45 lbs, both are about an inch difference in height. Lexi told Petra she is too little to carry Nova (who is around 22 lbs.). I walk into their room to see Nova in a completely different location than where I'd left her! Who do you think carried her? Yep, Lexi! Hmmm...I guess 20 months makes you much more capable!
2. I asked Petra & Lexi to give Nova a FEW toys to play with in the living room. When I came back through, Nova had the entire basket of toys dumped over with Petra pushing all the toys around her. When I asked Petra why she gave her all of the toys, Petra replied, "She wouldn't tell me which ones she wanted!"
3. Lexi asks everyday to watch a movie first thing in the morning. Most days, I try to keep it under an hour & a half before lunch, but she doesn't understand why that's important. On Tuesday, she was begging. After a few times of telling her "no", I hear her tell Petra, "If Mommy would let us watch a movie, I bet I would quit bugging her about it!"
4. One thing I've learned about cleanup time: giving each daughter a specific area or group of toys to put away makes the job go faster. Most days, I get a good round of "I don't want to" or "Why do I have to do it? Why can't she?" Yesterday, I told Lexi to carry 2 things back to her room and Petra also 2 toys. Lexi took her time obeying, so Petra picked up all of hers & came back. She saw Lexi wasn't doing it, so she grabbed hers as well. Lexi's comment, "Petra, Mom told me to do that! Mommy, Petra did it for meeeee...You told me to do it! It's not fair!" How do you teach a 4 year old that when someone does your work for you, just say "thanks" and move on? That is definitely not something I complain about!
Have a blessed day! We love you all!
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