Tell the truth

Buddy tonight sang his first ever made-up song. For a kid with selective mutism and a speech delay this is a HUGE deal. HUGE.
He had left his banana peel on the couch (!!!) and when I asked if it was his he said "no, it's ya-ya's" Well this mama knew it was not Trible's b/c of the fact that she didn't finish her banana and it was already in the kitchen! So of course I quickly said "no, that is not hers, this is yours isn't it?" "welllllll yes, that is Buddy's"
"You need to tell the truth the first time ~ not when mommy catches you"

and so into the kitchen he goes holding his banana peel to throw into the trash singing the following song:

"Tell the truth, Tell the truth. No I won't"

Gunkey

Little Trible has been taught a song by her older siblings. We rented Madagascar and they watched every day for the five days we had it. So I present to you their new version of Happy Birthday sung last evening by Daddy and Trible.

I wish....

I know I haven't been here in a while. Life happens and I'm in the trenches of parenting. Somedays it's harder than others.

I've been struck lately as I hear parents start of sentences with "I wish". You know "I wish the baby would sleep thru the night" or "I can't wait for the baby to start solids"
"I wish she were old enough/big enough so I could turn her around in her car seat"
"I wish he would feed himself"
"I wish he wouldn't make such a mess feeding himself" (funny how one wish brings another)
"I wish I could walk across the floor and not step on a car/doll/book/train/insert toy here"
"I wish he wouldn't use chalk on the door"
"I wish they could buckle themselves"
"I wish that tooth would just pop in"

The list could go on and on. Funny thing happens though ~ all those wishes will come true. And then you realize that time does not stand still. Your kids do grow up. Faster than you think. My wish is that I could stop time. That is my wish.
Seeing as I don't have that super-power I choose not to wish.
I'm thankful for chalk on the door and cheerios and fluffernutters on the floor. For skating across the kitchen floor on a random car and getting up at 3 am with a little girl who is teething and needs a snack. For changing diapers somedays all day. For a boy who needs his momma to 'sleep with' him at nap time so he stays in his bed. For doll clothes, and color books, and stickers and piles of school papers.
Some day there will not be a little person to decorate the door for fall with orange chalk. Or a snuggly little person in the wee hours of the morning. My son will think I'm weird for watching him sleep when he's a teenager. And homework papers will not be displayed proudly on the fridge.
No, for now I choose to enjoy stepping on day old cheerios or skating across the floor on a car. Someday it'll be gone and I'll be wishing it back.

The hardest job I've ever had.

I think I've written this post in my mind about 824 different times in the last six years. I know I haven't been blogging that long, but really I've thought these things, experienced a day like today more than once. (Maybe not exactly 824 times ~ probably more)

I've had jobs I've loved. I've had jobs I've completely hated more than anything else. This parenting gig though has a love hate relationship. It's days like today being in the trenches that brings me on the verge of tears on the outside. On the inside I'm probably a train wreck. I love my children. I would do ANYTHING for them. I love when they listen, obey, tell the truth, have great attitudes, keep their pj's AND diapers on, are smiling, walk in the store ~ you get the idea.
The truth is though I've got 3 little people who don't do that all the time ~ and most likely they are ignoring me, being defiant, lying, having a bad attitude and n*ked all at the same time. (Yes there are only 3 of them). Now granted they aren't misbehaving all the time, but sometimes I'm convinced there is a conspiracy against me. *Aha...mama is near her breaking point!*

This week has been one of those particularly hard weeks. Reinforcing some rules and behaviors. Which means of course that the testing will be harder than it has been. Does she really mean business?
Yes. Yes I do.

And yes it's hard.

No other job has caused me to send out an e-mail to 8 'older' mom's and pick their brains. No other job has brought me to my knees. Nothing else in my life has ever prompted me to need some time alone ~ even if it is at the grocery store. When it comes right down to it though nothing else has ever mattered this much. It's not about a sales goal, or meeting a deadline. It's about shaping a life. Molding a heart. Encouraging curiousity (but not too much).
So if you see my kids pictures and think "oh her kids are so adorable...she's got it all together" WRONG. I don't have it all together. I have a child having his temper in the grocery store and me looking at the cashier with eyes that say "ring me up fast". I have a child refusing to go to the van and climbing under the slide so I must go fetch said child. I have someone who thinks lying is quite funny. I am the mother of a child who repeatedly undresses herself. They don't always listen, they don't always obey. I'm done smiling and answering the question of "how's it going" with a "great" No my answer will be "I'm the trenches raising children of God. I need all the help I can get"
Yep this my friends is the hardest job I've ever had. I may not love every minute of it, but it's mine to do.