A Day in the Mountains

We recently spent a fun day in Ellijay visiting Mamaw Ollie and Papaw Charlie.  Though it was just a bit chilly, the weather was perfect for playing outside with cousins.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect Winter day!

Losing It

I love stadium music...the pounding beat, the inspiring words - those catchy tunes that make you want to get on your feet and cheer on your favorite tune.  Or in my case, run a little bit faster or do one more rep at the gym.  Recently, my dad and I went to a Georgia Bulldogs football game, and I collected a slew of new tunes to add to my gym playlist.  Fast forward a few weeks, and, as I was running on the treadmill, one of my new songs starts playing.  It dawns on me that, truthfully, this song is more than just a song to exercise to - it feels like an anthem of sorts for this stage of my life.  Considering the song, that's pretty sad (and funny).  

The song is "Party Up (Up in Here)" by DMX.  If you've never heard it, look it up.  [I should add that if you have sensitive proclivities, you may only want to listen to the chorus that starts the song.  I cannot at all relate to the rest of the lyrics in the song (thank heavens!) - only the chorus.  Normally, I would not even enjoy listening to a song like this...except for that chorus is just so fitting!]
Here's how it goes:

"Y'all gon' make me lose my mind
Up in here, up in here
Y'all gon' make me go all out
Up in here, up in here
Y'all gon' make me act a fool
Up in here, up in here
Y'all gon' make me lose my cool
Up in here, up in here"

On more occasions than I would like to admit, I have found myself singing this song to my children (either in my head or if they're really getting to me, actually singing out loud).  I know, I'm singing the chorus to a profane rap song to my little children...but...it's just so true!  Most days there are times where I do think that I'm going to lose my mind.  And without a doubt, they are most skilled at making me lose my cool. Seriously, I can deal with cranky clients, irate judges, snarky clerks, and rude opposing counsel all day long without it cracking my calm and cool demeanor.  But those kids!  They know the right buttons to push to make me think my head is going to explode...and I swear to you that there are times that I'm pretty sure you can actually see smoke coming out of my ears. 

And honestly, can you blame me?  The ridiculousness that we live in daily is staggering.  Only in the world of Parenthood is it normal to be physically assaulted (slapped, bitten, head-butted, kicked - you name it - sometimes intentionally and sometimes not), screamed at, bossed around, and shown no appreciation whatsoever by these little humans who are completely dependent on us for survival.  For obvious reasons, there are times when we can't wait for them to go to bed.  And then when we're away from them too long, we miss them terribly. 

It's not uncommon for one of our children to vehemently demand - to the point of tears - a particular item for breakfast.  When she gets what she wants, she says, "I don't want it!"  OK.  Forgive us for giving you the very thing you have been asking for for the last twenty minutes.  Then five minutes later, she wants it again.  Conversely, another one of our children will see us give said item to his sister, and he tells us that he does not want it.  Fine, we're not even trying to give it to you.  Apparently, something about not getting what you do not want is very upsetting because then he will also get upset and will insist upon pushing the unwanted item (which no one has even tried to give him) to the floor. 

The more time, money and effort I put into making something for dinner, the less likely they are to eat it.  And even the things that I have figured out they will eat will only last a little while before they no longer want it.  They keep me on my toes and are always making me adjust my menu schedule.

My personal property is slowly all being destroyed.  Numerous pieces of jewelry have been pulled apart until all that remains are tiny beads spread all across our bedroom floor.  Mirrors, plates, bowls - all have shattered on the floor.  Walls and doors have been written upon by little hands wielding crayons, markers, pens and pencils.  The frame holding one of my favorite pictures of Tony and me on our honeymoon was ceremoniously torn asunder.  My office is routinely plundered and papers (some important and some not so much) covered in the letters of the alphabet - yes, all 26 letters - one per paper - or covered in someone's name (not mine).  The desk that Tony worked so hard on in the playroom now has holes in it from someone bludgeoning it with a heavy object.  Imagine my surprise when I removed the sunglasses I had just been wearing only to find they had a sticky substance on the rim which was now stuck in my eyebrows.  This is to say nothing of the serious injury much of my wardrobe has suffered from dirty hands and snotty noses.  If it's something I really like, I've learned not to put it on until right before leaving the house (without the children).  Of our personal items that have not been destroyed, most are usually spread about the house so that we can't find them when we actually need them.

Speaking of items being spread about the house and being unable to find them, our children have become masters at "losing" their special loveys at opportune times.  Blankie, Elephant and Doggie will all be accounted for five minutes before nap time or bed time.  Suddenly, when it's time to go to sleep, one of them will turn up missing and cannot be found anywhere.  Talk about losing it.  How can an item that we just had in our hands five minutes ago and which is fairly large and conspicuous now not be found after a thorough search of the entire house?!  This right here is enough to drive me mad.  We've always (so far) been able to find the missing item, after much crying and searching, but they're getting creative and leaving them in new places every time.  Now we always check the refrigerator and the freezer, inside the cab of the toy dump truck, in the laundry baskets, in all drawers, and under the beds and couches.  Heaven help us when we can't find one of them.

We haven't even touched on the potty training yet.  Being in charge of three other people's bodily functions (in addition to your own) can make you a little wacky.  In a recent hour-long trip, we had to stop two times to let children pee in the little potty in the back of the van.  We often wonder how many times we say "Do you have to go potty?" in a day's time.  And the celebration when someone is successful at using the potty will convince you that we've lost a few marbles.

And this is more or less what we experience in a day's time.  Throw in some background music singing about fire trucks, shapes, numbers, and the days of the week.  Add a pinch of trying to have an intelligent conversation with your beloved over the ranting of three children and you have the perfect recipe for losing your ever-loving mind.

I used to think that once our children reached a certain age, it would all be down hill from there.  I think that was just me being naive.  The more that I speak with parents with older children, the more I am starting to see that this may just be the tip of the iceberg.  When I ask parents of older children, if it gets easier, nine times out of ten, they say it doesn't get easier - it just gets different.  Well, as long as it doesn't always involve giving out marshmallows every time someone uses the potty, maybe I'll survive.
I recently heard someone say that God puts our children in our lives - these very children God has given us - to help us become more like Christ.  As we teach them of the world and sin and the Gospel, they teach us too - about God, about ourselves, about prayer, and about selfless love.  Iron sharpening iron.  May we all not miss out on these daily teaching moments.  And may we, by Heaven's help, all persevere. 
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." - Romans 5:3-5