Tag: parenting

Posted in dear girls

8 May 2023: the “Slickening of 2023”

Posted on by Kaleidoscopic Grace 
Look. I don't care if you're OSHA HAZWOPER-certified or the most meticulous person on Earth...your house is not child-proof. 

Children have a way of manufacturing their own danger. 

My toddler turned our floor into a slip-n-slide today. And there were no caution signs. 

If I weren't me and this wasn't my life, I wouldn't believe all of the mundanely ridiculous things that happen to me either. 

But it did. And they do. 

I'm an attentive Mom. I really am. 
And my toddler knows it.

So she lurks in waiting... until I'm momentarily distracted by another task. Sometimes she even sends me on the aforementioned tasks. I'm onto her tactics now, though:

Norah: *signs ASL sign for "eat" and then "please"*
Me: Of course, sweetheart! Would you like Mommy to make you some oatmeal?"
Norah: *smiles and repeats "oatmeal" while deviously planning to get into my diaperbag*
Me: *watches my child walk back over to the couch and pretend to be interested in her coloring book... mischief managed... and goes back to preparing oatmeal*

Yeah... it takes like a minute and a half--maybe two. The water was already heated from my morning cup of tea. But in that minute-and-a-half, she snuck over to the church diaper bag, expertly unzipped it, retrieved my hand lotion, opened the lid, and emptied the bottle's contents all over herself, the floor, the couch, and her sister's toes. In less than two minutes. HOW?!

She realized her mistake and walked over to the stove to grab the towel while I was mixing the oats in her bowl. I smiled at her, assuming that she spilled a little of the water she was drinking and was taking the initiative to wipe up the droplets--reassured that she was behaving herself and added another 20 seconds to my mental timer for checking in. I didn't notice that she was half-covered in Eucerin dermatologist-approved 24-hour-hydration cream... until I heard the all-too-dreaded "wOooOoooo! uh oh!" coming from around the corner.

In trying to wipe up her mess, she inadvertently coated the livingroom walkway in about 4 different kinds of oil from the lotion and was sliding around on her butt across the floor like she was at a waterpark while her baby sister giggled up a storm in her jumper with freshly-lotionized toes wriggling--losing her balance with each jump attempt.

So... that's where we're at so far today.
I'm a good Mom though... I promise. 

...and the oatmeal was blueberry in case you were wondering. I had to reheat it by the time the "Slickening of 2023" was handled though. And I'm currently in the market for a combination zipper-padlock for the diaperbag... and a new bottle of purse-sized hand lotion. Bonus points if it has a childproof cap.

My takeaway?

Jesus isn't only for Sundays. I need Him every waking moment of every single day... and even the sleeping ones, too. 

"I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me."
--John 15:1-4 (NLT)
Posted in dear girls

14 September 2018: Be hugs & kisses

Posted on by Kaleidoscopic Grace 
I learned a very important lesson from my 5-year-old daughter this morning as we waited for the bus. 

She handed me a string bracelet that she had made. It had one purple strand, one pink strand, and was held together by a single folded-up piece of clear tape (it even had a few dust-fuzzies stuck on the adhesive). The beads she had chosen for the special gift spelled out: “B” “O” “X”—except the “B” was going the wrong way…endearing kindergarten style. 
 
She smiled proudly when she handed it to me, and said, “Mommy, I made this for you!” 

“Oooh! It says, ‘box’… is this because of all of the unpacking we’ve been doing lately?” 

She paused, looked at me as though I was missing the point completely, and corrected me with, “No. That’s not what it means. It’s ‘be hugs and kisses’ because you always try to make people feel better.” 

[Thankfully, she hasn't witnessed the times when my words have been hurtful to others too... that's not to say they don't exist.] 
 
My eyes filled with tears as the bus drove away. It astounds me how children say fleetingly simple things with such an echoingly profound figurative truth… and they don’t even realize it. 
 
“Be hugs and kisses…” 
 
It’s easy to go through the day gathering grudges to hold onto indefinitely. 

With our words alone, we are often quick to be insult, to be scrutiny, to be reprimand, or to be bitterness. 

Society judges relentlessly already. 
 
We’re all fighting battles of varying degrees. Sometimes, even though it’s easier to get upset or to lash out—we could change someone else’s day just by offering kindness instead… a smile… some understanding… or patience… by letting the things we say ‘be hugs and kisses’ instead of cuts and bruises (myself included).