From Crazy to Thankful

I have come to the conclusion that it is my children's primary goal to make me crazy. Can't be true, you say? Oh, but you don't know my kids. And for those of you that do know my crazy trio, you don't live with them. I love them dearly, but there are some days that a cabin in the woods with no electricity sounds very inviting.

My first example of their goal would be the outing on Saturday. This day they had 2 extra accomplices, my nephews. I took all 5 of them to a family reunion. They were very good and had a great time. Afterwards, we went to my Aunts to hang out for a bit. She lives in the country with horses and lots of outside toys and places to roam. Pretty soon, my 3 year old nephew comes up to me and says,"Aunt Hannah, I pooped my pants on purpose." "You did what?" I really didn't think I had heard him correctly. "I pooped my pants on purpose." "Why did you do that?" "Because I knew I had to go but I wanted to play so I just pooped my pants." I think I stared unbelieving at him for a full minute. I knew it was true because I could smell him. I took him into the house, cleaned him up, spanked him, and my Aunt helped me find him some clean clothes. The only thing she could find were pink underwear and girl shorts. He was furious! "I not a girl! I not going to put that on! I will rip it!" I was so angry with him that I can't even remember what it said. I'm sure it was along the lines of....Oh yes you will or I will tan your hide. Put them on now. I don't feel one bit sorry for you since you pooped your own pants on purpose.....

He put on the pants and stomped outside. I didn't see him again until we left. He was mad and didn't want anyone to see him in his girl clothes. Not to be outdone, my soon to be 3 year old son toddles up and says, "Mom, I peed my pants on purpose." I rolled my eyes. "Why did you do that?" "Wellllllll, because I wanted to." I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, you wanted to huh? Welllllll, I want you to stay in those pants until we get home. A little pee won't hurt you. I have no clothes for you to change into. You wanted to pee your pants so you get to stay in pee clothes." He was so mad he threw himself down and launched into a temper tantrum. My Aunt, cousin, and I just talked louder.

Oh, I haven't even gotten to my other kids yet. My 9 year old daughter had been getting annoyed with the boys for some time. My cousin has 2 girls her age and she was looking forward to being around them. They would traipse off together, and my 6 year old son would follow them. They would move to another horse pen, and my son would follow them. They would move to the swing set, my son would follow them. They would go into the barn to listen to music, my son would follow them. You get the picture here. My Aunt lives in the country on several acres. There was a huge dirt pile in front of the house with 3 little boys playing in it. There were several horse pens. My Uncle was watching football inside. There were all kinds of options for him to do something fun, but he chose to follow my daughter. Now, she is a little pistol. She makes herself known. And my son, he likes to antagonize her until she gets mad and then tattle on her. Here is a prime example. She had had enough of him following her around so she gets in his face and screams, "LEAVE ME ALONE!! STOP FOLLOWING ME!!"

He comes running up to me. I had been watching this whole scenario play out. "Mom, she screamed at me! She won't let me play with her!" After the poop and pee incident, I was not in a great mood. "Son, you will never learn your lesson will you? Stop following her around! There are 50 million things for you to do here, yet you insist on tormenting her? I do not feel sorry for you at all! Stop with the pouty, 'everyone is mean to me and I want you to feel sorry for me' face and go find something else to do!" He stops crying, hangs his head in defeat, and moves over to the dirt pile. His mission had failed. Mom saw through the plot and she didn't get into trouble.

Then, there is my lovely, wonderful, seemingly hormonal daughter. She comes walking up to me on her own. Her hands are behind her back, she is looking down with a little smile on her face. I said, "Oh yeah, you know don't you?" Smile is now gone. She nods. "Honey, I am so disappointed in you. The only reason why he continues to try to make you mad is because you always deliver! If he is pestering you, you need to tell me! It is not okay for you to get into someones face and scream at them!" I yell. Contradiction, I know. What can I say? I've made it abundantly clear that I am not perfect.

After that, it was time for us to leave. I packed all 5 moody, whiny, dirty, and sour faced kids into the car and headed for home. It was pretty silent the whole 45 minutes there. We got home and a few took baths and they all got ready for bed. My boys were already laying down in their rooms. My nephews and my daughter were in the living room. I walked into the bathroom and saw throw-up in the toilet. "Guys, did someone throw up?" My 5 year old nephew comes in there just as calm as can be. "Yeah, I did." I looked at him from head to toe. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, but I think I might be sick though. I don't usually throw up." "Uh, okay. Well, let me get you a water bottle and you lay down on the couch."

My daughter laid on the floor. After all that anger at me, my youngest nephew wanted to sleep with me. I let him. As I listened to his little snores, I let out a sigh of relief. I am reading awesome book, so I read a chapter before bed. It was talking about how we (women) are spectacular. We are nurturers and an example of Christ's love and beauty. I was not feeling particularly, loving or nurturing at that moment. It was pretty spectacular that I made it through the day without running away screaming though. That's always a good.

I quit reading and laid there in the silence for a moment. I asked God for provision to raise my children how He would have me do it. I thanked Him for my kids. I praised Him for bringing them all into my life. My daughter, biologically. My sons, through foster care. My nephews, through my brother. They are all precious to me. I love them severely and completely. I am thankful for every day that I get to spend with them, even days like this. My Father must really trust me. These kids are precious cargo! Besides, how many times have I acted like a spoiled child and not seen all the blessings he has surrounded me with? He has never once given up on me. When I was ready to start walking with him, His hand was already waiting to take mine. It has always been there, waiting for me to reach out.

I let out another sigh. This one of thankfulness. I turned out the light and went to sleep. Like the song says....I will praise you in this storm.... We never leave His hands. He has given us everything we need. When you start to feel overwhelmed, ask for His help. He is always faithful to give it to you. Sometimes He is just waiting on you to ask.