Being three weeks outside of having a baby via emergency c-section, and having six kids at home to take care of, today is a wonderful day for me to reflect on thoughfulness. We had friends bring us Krispy Kreme donuts to the hospital. My mom and dad were available round the clock to help us take care of the kids in the least disruptive way possible. My father-in-law visited me at the hospital by himself! Meals were dropped off, most often with the beverages and paper/plastic dishes necessary. Pizza was delivered. My kids were entertained an entire week by playdates with friends every day. My mother- and father-in-law kept the boys two days in a row, from the start of Superman’s work day until he picked them up after work, the week he went back to work but I still wasn’t quite there physically so that I could take care of them. Rides to and from school have been given, S3 caught a ride to gymnastics, the girls were taken to playgroup at the gym and then hung out with the ride-provider and her family the rest of the work day…the list goes one and on. These people were so thoughtful, giving of their time and energy to take care of my family and me. They didn’t care that is was kid #7, and if anything, they understood how having to have a c-section and recover with six little ones at home made our need even greater. They were His hands and feet to us, and I am so grateful to them for such thoughtfulness.
Thoughtful Thursday November 19, 2009
My kids are some of the most thoughtful kids I know. I know you probably think I am biased, but they really are extremely aware and respectful of other peoples’ feelings. Even with each other, although they are close in age and with each other all the time, they practice compassion and thoughtfulness. I’m not bragging or claiming this as an awesome parenting victory. This one is all God. Superman and I try to model and demonstrate such love, but we aren’t perfect. You see, when I was “surprised” by my pregnancy with S2, just four months after S1 had arrived, I prayed, HARD! I prayed for their development and their ability to get along. God delivered, and He’s offered that same gift to us with each child. I am grateful. I’m not one of those parents bent on my children reaching (or racing to) certain milestones. They’ll get there in their time, and when they need extra help doing so, we make sure they get it. This, however, is a goal that melts my heart. My 3 yr old son, who is every bit a rambunctious and wild little boy, came looking in the bathroom for his brother to give him his backpack today. You don’t understand, either. This isn’t just some backpack. For a few months, S5 slept in this backpack. It is very special to him, and S4 wanted to make sure that he gave it to him this morning. As I type this now, I’m hearing S4 say to S5, “You wanna try that?” and S5 replying, “Yeah, sure, I wanna try that. Do you wanna try that?” in his squeaky 2 yr old voice. All the while, they are including their 1 yr old brother in their fun. Little boys. I don’t know if you realize this or not, but little boys don’t act that way a whole lot. You might at one little boy who is sweet as can be, but put him with another little boy, just one year older or younger, to live and breathe with every day, and it can get tense! That’s the one area my mom, who is my mommy mentor, has not mastered. She was a wonderul mother and almost always has the answers to my parenting questions, but she only had one boy. It’s different. Just trust me when I say that. So for Thoughtful Thursday, I’m going to abandon my post and finish listening to my boys being thoughtful of one another. In a matter of seconds, it could be a totally different story!!!
Weekend blogging November 14, 2009
I think I will allow Thursday to have a theme and reserve my random ramblings for the weekend or an additional post during the week. It may be rare lately, but most days, I do think my kids are some of the most considerate kids in the world! So, we will let Thursday be Thoughtful Thursday, and if I feel led to blog on anything random during the week, I’ll just sqeeze an extra one in here and there. Being 34 weeks in the pregnancy, with much discomfort and a good bit of contracting already, I have a valid excuse to sit. Having a laptop makes it quite easy to blog when you are kicked back in the recliner!
So this weekend, S1 went on her first trip away from the family with a friend! It was a bit of a surprise invite, but we were so excited to get it that we cancelled family pics to allow her to go! Speaking of thoughtful, she’s the most thoughtful of the bunch. I guess being the oldest one makes that a necessary skill for her in order to coexist pleasantly with everyone! She’s the kid that takes the gift catalog at Christmas and circles gifts her brothers and sisters would like, and she’s always right! She took $7 out of her piggy bank the other day to buy a webkin she wanted, and she wanted to give the rest of her money to S2 to get her closer to her $ goal for her desired webkin. It could have been $50, and she would have given it away. So when the invite came, there was no doubt that I wanted her to have this opportunity. It was from some friends of ours from high school, and they were taking their little ones for a family camping trip. Their middle daughter and S1 are just 2 or 3 months apart and have played together only once, but they hit it off so well when they did. They are also homeschoolers and unique, like our family. So, I was surprised simply because it had been a while since we got together last, but not surprised because of the personalities of our girls. When I talked to S1 last night, she couldn’t even stop long enough to take a breath! When I got a word in, I asked her if she was even going to want to come home, and she said, “Oh yes, I’ll come home when I’m a hundred!” I’m so glad she’s having fun. It’s nerve-racking allowing your child to fly out of your nest for the first time without your protection, even when you trust the people she’s flying with. I know, however, that she is never out from under the protection of her heavenly Father, and although that may not guarantee that she is free from harm or danger, I do know that He is with her every step of the way. That’s why it was possible to send her off this weekend. We all miss her, but in all honesty, all the kids needed a little break from each other. They have been fighting so terribly lately, which is due to a few factors, but nothing that we can control right now. They just needed a moment to breathe and appreciate each other a little bit. As far as the others are concerned, we had a wonderful day today. S2 and S3 went to an awesome birthday party that included horse rides, which is S2’s dream come true! Superman took them and was able to enjoy the day with no little boys to chase down! I kept the boys and we went to visit PawPaw, who returned home yesterday after a week in the hospital for hip replacement surgery. They were angels and did exactly as I asked them to, being quiet, calm, and not giving me any grief when it was time to go. They even cleaned up after themselves! It was a wonderful day! While Superman and I missed one another very much (we cherish our weekends together), it was worth the trade off to get to watch the kids enjoy a fun day without any fix-it tasks on the list to keep us busy. We just got to spend the day being busy having fun!
Content Amidst the Chaos 