Wordless Wednesday

The diaglogue that went along with this picture went something like this...."Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase?????"

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Chuckoo!!!!!

So I've got this boy. And he is all boy. And I am his girlfriend. Sometimes he'll put his little cheek up to mine and say, "I'm lovin' on ya'." It's a really sweet thing that thrills my heart.

But boys being what they are, my little boyfriend is a frequent sword fighter, "hammerer", karate chopper, and "practicer" of any other skill that any protector worth his weight might need to be well versed in. He can turn any item into a sword (though a random stick or abandoned baseball bat is his first choice) or a hammer (certainly a toy car, or remote control will do in a pinch).

He gets a lot of skill practice in while simply walking from one place to another. He might already have a sword in hand, or he might be lucky enough to find one along the way (superheros are often blessed that way). You know, there's a lot of useful time during that walk from the backyard to the bathroom. And you don't even really need a weapon. That's when karate chopping comes in extra handy...when you don't have any weapon except your own body.

Even more time can be found while walking around looking for his sisters upstairs. And if he tries really hard, he can usually remember to make the appropriate scrunched up face that would send any bad guy (or good guy) running to his mommy.

But he always, always, always remembers the sound effects. They go something like this..."chucooooow!!!!", "chuckooooooo!!!!" or just "chucku!!" Whatever the sound effect, it always starts with "chu". I'm no superhero or superprotector like he is, so I just have to take for granted that all important superhero noises start that way. It must be part of a superhero's magic or something. Who am I to question?

As long as at the end of the day, my family and I are safe and my little guy asks me to hold his hand as he drifts off to sleep, who am I to question the special words or all of the practice time that he puts in? It's a tough life. But somebody's gotta' do it.

Daddy

I remember the day that you became Daddy
You had been my boyfriend and then my husband,
But you were still a boy, really,
And I was still a girl.

The day that she was born,
Your tender heart opened wider than you knew it could.
You started a journey that would bring you
To a completely different place--
One of giving your all
To a cause that could not possibly return the favor.

We didn't know what she was,
But then she was born, and you whispered
With teardrops in your throat,
"It's a girl! It's a girl!"

And since then,
Your heart has grown again and again
To welcome our second little girl,
Our only little boy
And anxiously waits
To hold our third little girl.

You are Daddy
To children who love you with a child's true love
Yet can not know how much you love them
Cannot know all that you invest in them
Of your time, your energy, your dreams.
They love you because you are Daddy.

And Daddy means silly,
Funnier than Mama,
Wrestling sessions on the living room floor,
Bubbles and water on the backyard slide,
Baby powder sliding on the hardwood floors,
Special rides in your truck and
Little gifts for no reason.

You are Daddy.
They love you.
I love you.
You're more than I ever wished for in my children's daddy.
Thank you.

Love,
Your Very Proud Wife

Wordless Wednesday

After that first corner, the mother-in-law started wondering if the son-in-law had secret plans to get rid of her.....

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We're Still Being Schooled

If you have more than two children, you probably get the same questions that I do..."Are they all yours?", "How many do you have all together?", "Did you plan all of them?" And you've probably gotten comments like, "Better you than me!"

I think that all of those questions and more are evidence that there are two kinds of people in the world when it comes to children. There are people who view children
as a blessing, and there are people who view children as a burden to be handled, lived through, survived. You probably already know this, but the husband and I belong to that first group.

Many people have mentioned, and yes, we realize that there are lots of other things that we could do and there are many more things that we could buy if we didn't have any (or so many) children. Yes, our home is loud. Yes, there is drama and an endless amount of laundry to be done, meals to be fixed, dishes to be washed, homework to be completed, fights to be moderated. And there is way more than that.

But in washing that laundry and putting it away, fixing those meals and cleaning up afterward, breaking up fights and teaching the lessons that go along with it, we, ourselves, are being tutored in those things that God counts as critical in our development.

We are learning an attitude of service that does not come naturally to most people--it doesn't for us (an attitude of serving those who need us even when we are tired, sick and might feel like our own needs are more pressing). We are learning compassion for those who might or might not be showing compassion to us at the moment, learning not to respond because we are angry or even really ticked off, but to respond out of what is best for that other person.

We are learning to teach these little people instead of doing everything ourselves (when it would often be a lot easier and neater to do so). A hint here: teaching takes longer (but it's worth it). We're learning to foster relationships between other people and not to always claim all the glory. We're learning to look at ourselves, realize that there are improvements that we could make, and try to start making them.

By no means have we completed our coursework. We are in class every day, no week ends and holidays off and no regularly scheduled bathroom or shower breaks. We are immersed in this on-the-job training 24/7 (vomit and out-of-sync baby schedules know no routine).

And most people who wonder why we have so many little teachers wonder why we didn't make it easier on ourselves with fewer of them. But the truth is, even though this life is really demanding, we have a purpose here that goes way beyond ourselves. Even though it's really fun to do things exclusively for our own enjoyment, that feels a little empty and shallow after a while. That's not our purpose here on this earth. Our purpose is less about figuring out how to get more of what we want for ourselves and more about learning how to give more of what someone else needs (did I mention that we are still learning?).

And for those who feel sorry for us thinking that we get too little for ourselves...the joy that I see in my son's face when he learns a new task (recently: folding washcloths, sweeping up macaroni under the table, using Daddy's drill to screw in the bolts on some ramps that he and Daddy made) is an amazing reward. The pride that I feel when my oldest daughter is complimented for her integrity (ie: not watching a show that I told her not to watch when she is out of town with grandparents) and when my middle daughter shares her coveted cookie with a brother whose tummy is already full of cookies....these kinds of things are part of the package. Yes, our life is demanding, but the payback is rich. Even when we don't deserve it.

So if you see my family in the grocery store and start to count how many children we have, know that you are counting our blessings, that we are rich in what matters, that we wouldn't have it any other way.



Mamatutwo

Wordless Wednesday

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