Pediatrician, Poison Control and a Platoon of ants came marching in....hurrah hurrah

Yesterday's day was so ridiculous that I must record it or I'll think back on it and not believe it actually happened.

9:50 am: Addison starts crying (up all night, which was why she slept in), I go into her room to find her naked, wet diaper on floor, covered in poop, which is also smeared all over her crib and PotteryBarn bedding.
9:52 : I throw her in bathtub and hose her down
9:54:  Hunter decided he wants to take a bath and starts taking all his clothes off, trying to climb in my now poop filled bathtub.
10:00: Both kids are now in our master bathtub playing happily as I carefully pry all bedding off crib.
10:10: Ding Dong! A new college student to our ministry arrives for our breakfast meeting
10:12: Me and two half naked wet children come downstairs to greet our sweet visitor, Kate.
10:15: Try to make chocolate chip pancakes as Hunter spills pancake mix everywhere
10:20: Look at Addison to discover she looks like she got into a UFC fight, her eye and chin is swollen and red.
10:30: Call Pediatrician, give Benadryl
10:40: Eat pancakes and enjoy a discussion with Kate (while Addison spills a box of Cheerios on carpet)
11:30: Say goodbye to our guest, vacuum up cheerios.
11:30: Try to clean the rest of Addison's morning surprise and notice that the children are both very quiet.
12:00: Call Poison Control.  (Kids knocked Pepto Bismol tablets from top shelf in pantry and decided to try a few)
12:30: Put Addison to bed, collapse in a heap.
3:00: Hunter wants to play bubbles, and spills and entire bottle of bubble juice on floor.
3:30: Notice an army of ants that have come marching into our kitchen.
4:00: Wash all kitchen mats and vacuum (again)
5:00: Try to make dessert for our premarital counseling session tonight: Hunter wants to help.
5:37: BEEPING oven timer!! (AH! Burned the dessert b/c I was playing trains with Hunter)
6:00: Throw kids into van.
6:02: Forgot something: Got locked out of house, go around to get extra key
6:03: Go out into the rain to grocery store to buy new dessert: ice cream. (Praying that for once, as I check out there's not a kind old lady behind me telling me to "Enjoy these days! They go by so fast!" I could just see it now..."Local Pastor's Wife takes out old lady in Grocery Store Checkout Lane."
6:15: As I put the cart away, Hunter gets out of his carseat, throws open driver's side door and almost smashes the nice black BMW next to me...close call!
7:00: Make dinner, Doug walks in- exhausted from his nonstop day of ministry.
6:30: Throw kids in bathtub again, and make myself somewhat presentable for our company coming.
10:00: Watch Covert Affairs with Doug and fold a ginormous amount of laundry.
12:00: Roll into bed
1:00am: Addison crying
4:00am: Addison crying
5:00am Addison crying...We pretend not to hear
7:30am Hunter wakes up: "Mommy! Come downstairs with me!!!"

Drop the laundry or the dishes and sit down and play PlayDoh!

It is so easy to let the responsibilities and tasks of the day override our time with our kids.  I had recently bought a piece of furniture that I was painting and Doug and I were doing a host of other projects around the house that at the end of the night I felt like I literally put my kids in front of the TV all day.  I did get ALOT accomplished! (My Bible study was finished, laundry was folded, dishes were clean and put away, the floor got mopped, meal planning was done, budget was analyzed, phone calls were made, furniture was painted, and the upstairs got vacuumed...WOW! I feel proud of myself just typing my list- haha!)  But I really neglected spending time with the kids....how many times that day did I say to Hunter, "I can't play right now, honey... I will in a little bit." But, I never did.

I am reading "You've Got to Be Kidding! - Real life parenting advice from a mom and dad of nineteen" by Pat and Ruth Williams.   This morning's particular chapter was on spending quality and quantity time with our kids.

* Keep the main thing the main thing.
* Successful people almost always look back and say, "I regret that I did not take more time for my children when they were young and available to me and craved interactions. What I traded for those moments was not worth it."pg 54 
* Many things in life can wait.  But the child cannot.

Along with this is the valuable time we must put into our children's faith and character.

*"Its not about stuff.  It's about faith.  Its about believing in a God who tells us how to live." pg 61
* "If your Christianity doesn't work at home, it doesn't work." -Howard Hendricks
*" It's not just a Sunday thing.  It's how we live.  We want them to know that our faith is what sustains us during difficult times, gives us hope when the future looks scary, and lifts us up when the world tries to drag us down."pg 63

YOUR CHILDREN WILL NOT BE PERFECT!

I went for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday with a friend who had just delivered a precious baby boy.  We were sharing about how the dreams and expectations of sweet tender moments can be eclipsed by the exhaustion, fear, pressure, and feelings of inadequacy.  We get intensely discouraged when we see mothers of 4 and 5 children just breezing through life easily.  (If you are one of those moms, PLEASE contact me and let me know the secret!!)

I am picking up several bits of vital lessons that I must write down for my own benefit before I forget, and maybe they will be of some help to you as well.  :)

"My children's faith and character are more important than their accomplishments.  And MY faith and character are more important than my accomplishments." 

I don't know about you, but I struggle constantly against the media's portrayal that success is having children who are brilliant, athletically successful, socially accepted, and attractive.  And that as a mom, if my children are succeeding in life, that equals my success.  However, I am forgetting a major point:  I can do nothing good apart from Jesus!  Anything good that my children do is because of the grace of God!    God is the one who knows how best to parent my children, and I need to be asking for His guidance every step of the way.

My pastor's wife told me over lunch the other day...."Your children are not going to be perfect."
"WHAT?!!!!  WHAT DO YOU  MEAN?!"  I jokingly replied in an exaggerated tone. But I felt a deep sinking feeling in my heart.

Why?  I think I really have this expectation for my children to be perfect (not entirely of course, but close!)  I want them to do well in school, be excellent athletes, have lots of friends, love Jesus passionately, desire to go to church, get a free ride to college, marry someone we approve of, not make terrible decisions, honor us......and the list goes on.   YIKES!

OUR KIDS WILL NOT BE PERFECT!  They will be who God has created them to be, and yes, it is Doug and I's job to teach, shape and pray for them, but I need to let go of my unrealistic expectations, or I will end up being sorely disappointed.