1m2aSandbox

The other night it was pretty cold and
Cora wanted to wear footie pajamas to bed. We went through her
pajama drawer only to discover that every pair of footie pajamas -
size four for a four-year-old - was too small. Doubtful, I opened
the size five tub and drew out a pair of fleece footies for her.


They fit.


There she stood in her size five pajamas, my baby, looking
impossibly big and impossibly babyish at the same time.


How does this always happen when my back is turned?

I blogged yesterday about my pursuit of
finding moments of grace – of gratefulness – in each
day. Of appreciating my life more, and teaching my girls to do the
same. As I said yesterday, it’s helped me be a more patient,
more compassionate parent.


But I’m not saying I’m perfect.


One of the reasons I started this website six years ago was because
having a baby is REALLY FREAKIN’ HARD, and I wanted to make
sure other parents didn’t feel alone in this big thing.
I’d hear mom s gush about how it was “love at first
sight” and “I’ve never wished I didn’t have
kids” and I’d think Really? Because I have wished that.
Mostly when I’m just trying to find thirty seconds to poop in
peace.

I spent the past few months reading href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-Gifts-Fully-Right/dp/0310321913/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326074261&sr=1-3"
target="_blank">One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
– a dare to live life fully right where you are. It’s
been a game-changer for me as a parent and as a person. I’ve
been purposefully trying to slow down and really see
God’s goodness every day, to drink in my kids and wallow in
their awesomeness. At some point in the book Ann says, “Every
breath is a battle between gratitude and grudgery,” and I
totally know where she’s coming from.


As I use this book to change how I parent, I’ve been trying
to teach the idea to Maddie and Cora as well. The truth is,
there’s only room in our hearts for one emotion at a time,
and it could be jealousy or anger or annoyance – or
gratitude, or happiness, or joy. When the girls are driving me
RIGHT UP TO THE EDGE of my sanity, I stop and take a breath and
find something that I’m truly grateful for at that
moment – not the whole “I’m glad I’m
healthy” or “I’m grateful we have a roof over our
heads” tossed off in a dismissive way, but something I can
truly be emotionally grateful for right then. Sometimes I’m
grateful I have another room to go to while I cool off; sometimes
I’m grateful my daughters have no trouble expressing
themselves – LOUDLY. But I find something and latch on, and
sooner or later find myself calm – and grateful to have the
chance to help my girls learn how to deal with life.

The holidays are finally behind us, but
their effects are still reverberating throughout our family.


And our family’s digestive tract.


Maddie’s always had difficulty pooping – see, oh, about
a thousand of my blogs – and I warned her that eating a lot
of sugar over the holidays would have adverse affects on her
bowels. But she’s in charge of her own eating these days, and
she’s six, so I’m reasonably certain the
vegetable-to-candy ratio was reversed for the past couple of weeks.


And now Maddie’s paying the price.


My poor girl struggled to poop for three solid (no pun intended)
days, each day getting a progressively more painful stomach ache.
She’s never been a poop-a-day girl, but her last elimination
was last Thursday or Friday.


Yeah, ouch.

There are very few beings bossier than a
young girl. Which is why it may have been a mistake to tell some
new year’s resolutions to Maddie.


Every year we talk as a family about new year’s resolutions,
discussing what they are – something you’d like to
change about yourself or the world – and ways to implement
them. Last year, I told the girls I was going to work on being more
patient with them, and when I asked Maddie how she thought
I’d done with that she said thoughtfully, “Well,
you’ve gotten a bit better about it. But perhaps you should
choose that one again this year.”

We have had a fantastic holiday vacation
and truly excellent Christmas. We stayed put the entire two weeks,
save for a two-day trip to a hotel about 20 miles away – yes,
our children begged for an overnight in a hotel for their big
Christmas present this year. We were happy to oblige.


And speaking of Christmas presents, I’m going to brag here
and say that there was not a single Disney Princess nor even, I say
truthfully, any type of licensed character under our tree this
year. We had a pretty toy-free Christmas, and I could not be
happier.

Yep, that's me you hear being dragged
kicking and screaming back into our family routine.


Let me ask you something - is homeschooling just so you don't have
to set your alarm in the morning and pack a lunch every day really
such a bad reason to do it?


Seriously grumpy here. Seriously.


And the girls aren't even awake yet.