Last night after I FINALLY got the kids settled in bed my 4 year old came to aks me a few questions as normal. My husband had already gone to shower and go to sleep after his long day at work and I was trying to stick with my goal of cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.
Dishes are my absolute least favorite chore, and I will procratinate them until the end of the earth. I just wanted to get them done while the food was fresh and the dishwasher was empty. I stopped and listened to the goofy little question my son had and sent him back to bed. As soon as the water got hot I heard my 19 month old start screaming. He has been getting his first molars in(all 4 at once) and has been struggling the last few nights.
It's usually in the quiet moments when my kids are sleeping that I can actually be grateful for these little nuggets. However, I can not say that I had much quiet time to appreciate them last night. I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, tried to look past the piles of dished on the counter from having guests and I decided to check on the baby. I ended up taking him for a small walk to my room to see if my sleepy husband could calm him. But I had no such luck. Most days he is a Daddy's boy and will choose him over me, but last night he was giving Daddy all the dirty looks.
I ended up laying down, patting his little butt and falling asleep for a good hour and a half. I forced my eyelids open, upset at myself for falling asleep, and rolled the little guy off of me. I dragged myself out of bed and down to the other end of the house, hoping I could get something productive done. I fed the dogs, made the couches into beds for my niece and nephew to come early in the morning, washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed my clothes and glared at those dishes during the back and forth.
You hear the saying don't go to bed with dishes in the sink, but sometimes you just gotta leave them in the sink, on the counter, on the table. The point I'm trying to make is that there are important things, and then there are more important things. Some of those things can wait unitl morning, children can't. Earlier in the week I found out about a dear childhood friend who gave birth to her third child on Valentines Day. She has 2 little boys, like me and was pregnant with a much anticipated little girl. Due to complications, her little girl had to be revived just after birth and passed away later that same evening. Just typing this makes my throat close up and my tear ducts overflow. I haven't spoken to this friend in years, but her loss has hit me to the core.
Seeming problems of dirty dishes and crying babies are turned from burdens to blessings in the big scheme of things. I HAVE a family to feed, a house to clean, a baby to hold and no matter how awful, I am glad I have reminders to snap me out of my own self pity.
This parenthood thing can test you to your limits but it's through the refiners fire that we are molded into those beings God intends us to be. So take a minute and be grateful for the burdens you carry because there is someone out there praying they can have it as a blessing.
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