*This was written on 4/22/14.
Well we are in full blown toddler and preschooler season here at the Boland Household. Mackenzie is really becoming her own person and exploring. I absolutely love this age. I loved it with Riley and I’m adoring it with Mackenzie, and cringing a bit knowing it goes so fast and soon she will be into full blown temper tantrums…
Riley can threw down a mean mean tantrum. Where I think, Good Lord help me, is there a demon in that child?
We are learning and getting better with it, but oh does it still rear its ugly head mostly when she is hungry or tired, go figure right?
So my husband has been working a lot lately, late hours and weekends. Easter was his first day off in the last 2 weeks. So of course the girls and I have had some extra awesome time together…And dinner gets a bit tricky.. I have a one year old who is in and out of Ear infections, on a good day only needs her nose wiped once an hour instead of every 10 mins, coughs a couple times a day and sneezes only 10 times! ( slight exxageration? I wish!!! hehe)
Don’t worry she has an appointment with an ENT specialist on Thursday.
Anyways back to the so called every day lives of me and my girls…
We are outside, can it really be this warm? It’s funny how you forget how wonderful the sun feels on your bare skin.
So the girls are loving running outside screaming and laughing. I am loving sitting down relaxing and feeling the sun and not having to ….
“MACKENZIE NO NO N O! My eyes are seriously popping out as she has our dog’s poop in her hands its going for her………. I’M running from the patio over as she looks up and sees my insane face she drops the poop I run inside with her…
I washed her hands a lot. and than a lot again.. and than a bit more.. and than to be sure I sanitized.
And I defiantly cringed the first time she ate something after this incident. Our dog just ate our entire beautiful display of Easter cupcakes and well eats about anything….
Will this really be relaxing? Why can’t I just close my eyes for a couple minutes out here?
Oh well I take the girls out and we try again.
I write a new to do list for myself when I go out side before I can sit down. It starts with
1. Pick up all Jake’s Dog poop….
So I pick up the poop and plunk the girls down in the sand box. I lay down on their little tikes picnic table.
Ahh it feels great for about 10 seconds….
“Mommy, I’m a new kid, I’m Alice.”
“Hi Alice. It’s so nice of you to join us.” ( As my eyes are still closed and I’m smiling. I know just where we are headed)
“And who is this?” ( Riley points to her sister with a grin)
“Mackenzie.”
“Oh Hi Mackenzie!”
“Mommy, I mean teacher, What are we going to learn today?”
And so it starts. One of the very first times I played pretend with Riley we were playing cash out. Just typical scanning customers at our registers, and I gave her the name, Alice. No reason NO idea where it came from and had no idea Alice would be such a frequent visitor!
There are days when I hear that first sentence I wrote above, and I sigh.. I sigh thinking ughhh I do NOT want to play this stupid game right now….I start to say Riley I.. .and I stop… I did that one time and I thought about it later and reflected on what she said,
“What are we going to learn today?”
There have been days where I have questioned why God has made me a mother. Days when exhaustion has beaten up my body so bad I can barely see outta my swollen eyes, and it’s in those days that I am reminded what an extraordinary position I am in.
To teach these beautiful little girls…
Teach them…
So I have come to embrace Alice.
We can play for twenty minutes me as Mommy, Riley as Alice, Mackenzie as Mackenzie, and I will go to do something else and I see the little curly haired three footer staring at me,
“Riley you want something to eat?”
” IM NOT RILEY I’M ALICE!!” Almost on the verge of a meltdown!!
“Ohh ohh right Im so sorry you just look so much like my daughter I keep calling you her name. Alice do you want something to eat?”
Riley gets the biggest smile on her face and answers, ‘Yes”
How do I get my Riley to come back?
I told her the one day when I kept calling her Riley and was ready to get the next part of the day moving, I said, “Oh Do I MISS my Riley.”
She processed this.
And now when we exit this imaginary play she says,
“Do you want your Riley Roo back?”
Than I get the smile that she had on earlier and I say,
“Oh Yes I do.”
She turns herself around and says,
“Hi Mommy, Im back! Did you miss me?”
Than we get some extra cuddle time!
So it is a tiring job, but does it get any more rewarding than that?
Isn’t that such an awesome reminder that God is trusting us with these little beings? That it is our job to show them Gods love.Its such an adjustment to be constantly reminded that this season of life is not about us… and that is so hard in so many ways.. but as they grow and things like this take place, it certainly gets easier to remember who it is all about.
Heres my inspiration for you tonight
As They Are
When you are with your children
be one with them
Let every part of your body relax
and become as supple as your child’s.
Allow all expectations and anxieties to melt away
so that you can see clearly.
Love them as they are
in this very moment,
without needing to change a thing.
When their lives are filled with trouble
allow events to unfold
without pushing or straining,
and you will understand clearly
what your role should be.
You nourish them without possessing them.
You guide them without controlling them.
You help them without worrying them.
– From the Parents Tao Te Ching!
Leave a Reply