To say that there is NEVER a dull moment in the Miller household would still be a huge understatement. Can I just run you through the course of a few hours in hour house? I will make this as brief as I can. By the way, I never thought of it exactly in this way, but I had TWO people say the same thing to me the other day: Having 3 kids can be overwhelming because they outnumber you. It never dawned on me to think of it in that way, but that is the truest statement I have heard in quite some time.
At Brennan's school yesterday they had a special event for all the kids who have had good behavior this past semester. They had bounce houses and slides and snacks that the students could buy. The smallest dollar bill my husband had in his wallet to swipe was a five. Snacks were being sold for $1 each. So, I instructed him carefully that he was not to spend the $5 all on himself. That he could get a couple of things and then either bring his change home, or share with someone in case they had forgotten their money. Knowing my oldest, I then wrote a note to his teacher to make sure he shared his money if anyone had come empty handed. So after school as I was asking him about his day, I asked if he brought change home or if he had to share. Very puffed up he replied that he had to share 2 of his dollars. Now Brennan is my tenderhearted, caring, compassionate child. But he has NEVER been one to share. But we're working on it..... nearly eight years, but we're working on it. So then he says, "The teacher made me share with _____ and _____ and they didn't even give me anything back!!!!" (as he crossed his arms and huffed loudly). I knew we had an important lesson on our hands and to tread carefully. He then told me that one of the boys he shared with was sometimes mean and a bully. YES! Here was our lesson. I explained to him that he was showing the love of Jesus by sharing. Even with someone who may not always be nice. He was doing exactly as God instructs us to do. And that MOST times when we share, we don't get anything in return but a simple thank you. And sometimes we don't even get that in return. Then I asked, "Doesn't it make you feel GOOD to share with others who might have missed out on a treat today?" He then responded, "It may have made THEM feel good, but I don't understand what you mean about it making ME feel good. I didn't even get anything back". Needless to say, at bedtime I found a devotion specifically for this subject and told him the more he shared and the older he got he would learn exactly what it means to feel good inside by giving to others. SIGH. We still have a lot of work to do yet.
I've posted before how around 5 p.m. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. some sort of invisible switch gets flipped on in our house and every breathing being within our walls goes crazy for the next hour or two. All except the adults who have to scream and holler just to be heard over all the craziness. So yesterday, after a few meltdowns between getting the boys in from outside, keeping the dog from scaring one of the three little neighbor girls going door to door selling cookbooks for their church, and Mary Grace falling in out out of fussiness and sleep from her immunizations yesterday, and me having to spank my oldest for his back-talking and arguing, we were finally able to sit down and eat dinner. The boys had finished and were excused from the table. As Chad and I were still sitting at the table finishing our conversation, Ethan walks in the dining room with nothing on from the waist down, underwear in hand, and throws them on the dining room table. And it was full of poop. He never, EVER has accidents. But apparently he didn't make it to the bathroom on time and didn't see anything wrong with throwing his dirty undies on our table. See what I mean? These kids live to keep us on our toes.
Then as I was cleaning the kitchen Brennan was down on the floor talking to Mary Grace. I was washing dishes when Brennan says, "Hey Mama, you know what?....... Sissy is a virrrrrr................. no, wait.........Sissy is a noun". Yes, my mind is obviously way down deep in the dirty gutter because I swear to you I thought he was going to say the other "v" word that starts off pronounced just like the VERB word. If you don't know what I mean here, then stay innocent. I feel like I'm on guard for anything my son will overhear or be told at school and then I will have to explain certain things to him that I'm just not ready for! These days children hear and see a lot from television and older siblings, so I'm dreading the day that he comes home and repeats something that I'm just not ready to explain as to why he shouldn't repeat that.
See what I mean? This all took place within a few hours yesterday. This is why not one person should ever judge me because my favorite part of the day (unashamedly) is my children's bedtime. Yes, I love them wholeheartedly and all that good stuff, but to keep my sanity I need about an hour at the end of the day to unwind and decompress from all the excitement that has happened on any given day. This is why I'm a realist and not one of these parents who think my children hung the moon. They didn't. They haven't even come close. I am a real parent. Exhausted. Frustrated. But totally full of love for them. I wouldn't change a thing about my days during this season of life, but it's true that they make me crazy. Insane. As in, if I could rent a room at the local looney bin once a week, I would pay big bucks to go and take happy pills and sleep in, and be fed meals........................ That's all I'm sayin'.
