I've been waking at 4:30 am a lot lately. Frustrated, I want to go back to sleep; nonetheless, I lay there, mind racing, tempted to get up just so I can sit quietly on the couch, sip coffee, read or write or study without interruption.
And that always wins.
That is probably one of the reasons I am so tired. Moments of peace and solitude are more important than sleep sometimes.
But I do look in the mirror and think, "Wow, what happened?!"
The house is perpetually chaotic and messy.
Lately, this energy has been channeled into constructing leprechaun traps.
Evie had to make a leprechaun trap for a school project. I handed that one off to John and sure enough, what they created was masterful.
This then sparked a desire in the boys to trap their own leprechauns. Thus, they worked diligently on building their own traps from shoe boxes, alternating between excitement and total fear if the trap really worked!
They went to sleep the night before St. Patrick's day with their traps set, anticipating what they would find the next morning. To their delight, they found gold chocolate coins instead of actual small creatures. There was evidence that they had visited; little green foot prints dotted the kitchen floor, and they left the toilet seats up-and the green water indicated that those pesky leprechauns didn't flush!
We attempted going to downtown for St. Patricks day; but, my ambition once again got the best of me and we ended up in a crowd of people, getting rained on. After waiting in a long line to get in the magical tent of Irish dancing merriment, we ended up abandoning our plans because of the $15.00 per person entry fee.
With hail falling from the sky and our family running for cover, the kids started to complain about their lack St. Patricks Day luck and their right to something else "special."
If you know me, you know that one of my biggest struggles with raising kids in this present world is balancing my desire to create magical childhood experiences without producing entitled, spoiled, self-absorbed monster children. Whenever I hear whining, complaining or demanding, something inside me wilts.
I've been known to suddenly react to this behavior by insisting that my kids partake in a selfless activity or project.
This situation reminded me of a project at our church that I wanted to participate in.
After getting settled into our warm vehicle, I turned around to my unhappy, soaked children and informed them we would be celebrating St. Patricks day at Walmart instead, creating "restart kits" for refugee families. Thus,John and I led our clan through the aisles of the store, picking out toothpaste, toilet paper and deodorant.
This ultimately turned out to be the best way to spend this holiday. I truly believe that things work out for the best; in my opinion, I think disappointment is one of the best character building tactics in kids. A sudden change of plans creates flexible kids, kids who can wrap their hearts and minds about more than themselves and their special outings and surprises and plans.
Nonetheless, these kids are certainly not deprived of special things and outings. For their birthday the boys received a gift certificate to a place in the mall called Young Art where they got a 30 min one-on-one art lesson. I used the certificates to have a one-on-one time with each of my boys, a rare occurrence and one that I cherish.
During each of the sessions, it was remarkable how differently they interacted with the teacher, lesson and materials. Their choices for pictures they wanted to create reflected their personalities;;
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| Levi: a pink butterfly; |
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| Caleb: a red dolphin |
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| and James: a train, of course. |
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