"Hey YOU, Want to Fight?"

I am always searching for great books to read with the kids. It can be tough sometimes searching out those great reads that not only captivate young audiences but keep the reader ’the grown up’ awake while snuggling down in a cozy bed with warm little bodies around them. A while ago I had heard my husband reading to the kids, The Grouchy Lady Bug by Eric Carle. As I walked by the room I heard giggling, so much so that I had to stop and sit and listen.

A grumpy nasty lady bug tries to pick fights with every animal it encounters with a screechy angry voice until it picks a fight with a large blue whale. All of the animals are patient but warn of their various defense tactics, but my favorite was the blue whale who doesn’t respond even when this lady bug keeps trying to pick a fight. There is no comment until… “SLAP!!!!” the fin of the whale knocks the lady bug right back where it started! Oh the lessons that I could pull from this book… I’ll stick to self application

I’m thinking about all of the times that I have tried to pick fights. I’ve been irritated on the freeway, the grocery store checkout line, the park, the mall, even the dinner table. I grouch at people… total strangers and even the little ones that I love the most. For a number of reasons I could be grouchy, but I think the thing that deserves the most contemplative thought is that my aggressive crabbiness was unprovoked by the innocent by-standers. It’s not kind or loving at all, and it is only a matter of time before I get slapped right back to where I started.

I can think of a few times today that I have crabbed at my kiddos. One instance had peanut butter crackers and shag carpet in the same experiment! The still small voice tells me I could have handled it a lot differently. It’s important to set those good examples for our little ones, even the examples that show how to say, “I’m sorry for being so grouchy today, will you forgive me?” It’s good to know that I am not perfect and that grace should be extended to everyone who’s not perfect too!

Kid's Know How to Have Fun

  "Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun."-

Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author

 

It's already after noon and I am feeling unproductive. The house is a mess, dishes piled high, laundry in heaps and the floor crusted with syrup and peanut butter. The dog has been fed with graham crackers and bits of chips on the dining room chairs and I haven't begun to defrost anything for dinner yet. It's easy for me to sit at the table with my head in my hands... here it comes... that overwhelming feeling of failure. I feel it tap on my shoulder every time I sit down, yup... there it is, I am in bondage to my standards.

 

Standards can be such a distraction as a mom, it can distract us from the things that matter the most. I have found often that if I would stop following my children, cleaning up their messes then I could be a participant in all of the fun by helping make them! I know, how are we supposed to keep up with everything that way? Well, there is a balance, but I have heard it said that if 80% of our day is spent cleaning, correcting and dwelling with guilt and 20% is spent in consuming thoughts of how to keep the house tidy and the appearance of perfection, then 100% of our day has been a waste of time and energy! What if we could change that?

 

Right now my children have devastated their rooms upstairs. I know I will step on at least three to six legos trying to make it to the doorway and I will be certain not to reach any of them in the room without a "stumble trip, stumble trip". However, the laughter and creativity flowing out of the hallway is making me jealous. I have never looked at the hamper as a dangerous mine shaft or at the squinkies as poisonous insects. I never thought of putting a helmet on a stuffie and watching them fly from the ceiling fan, or making a race track using the dresser drawers and a wrapping paper tube.

 

My house isn't perfect, but I know in my heart that if I were spending 80% of my time playing and enjoying the creative passion and energy, and 20% thinking about dinner and tidying up, I would recognize that I am 100% blessed. Kids know how to have fun... wish me luck as I venture into the "monster truck mine field"! 

 

Dear friends,
Thank you to all who are visiting our blog! We hope to have it all up and running shortly! Be on the lookout for our new quilt lines coming soon! A portion of oir proceeds donated for every quilt purchased!!
Love  Crystal
(Livie's Mom)

Livie