My visiting teacher came today and the message she chose was about how we always hear the message "endure to the end" but we also need to remember to rejoice in life and that the gospel is a message of joy. As I sit here at the end of the day, I realize that Heavenly Father again has given me a little nudge to remind me of what I need to know when I need to know it. Today was an endurance day.
For some unknown reason Kadin has been fairly cranky the last little while. He has been impatient and demanding and all of the things people say about the terrible two's. This morning for instance, after breakfast, he wanted nothing to do with any of his toys, no shows, no nothing, except for playing in the bathtub. So I filled up the tub and let him splash around to his heart's content.
After that he was pretty content, mostly because we watched Monsters, Inc. ( I know, lousy parenting, but I was feeling pretty lousy at this point too). Since he was doing so well, I thought I would let him stay up past him regular nap time and maybe get a longer nap out of him, thus buying me the possibility of a nap for me. Bad idea. He went down alright, but he didn't sleep any longer and was even crankier when he got up. So I had to walk around with him for a while and try to keep him at least from screaming. Then Jeremy came home and we attempted dinner, unsuccessfully. By then it was back in the tub, which made him happy again and another movie until bed time. I was counting the minutes until 8 p.m. An endurance day for sure.
But as I sit here, I remember Heavenly Father's nudge and I see the small moments of rejoicing in the midst of the enduring. Kadin's smile as I pour cup after cup of water over his head, Jeremy's hug at the end of the day (my lifeline!), Kadin turning to me during "Finding Nemo" and telling me "whales, ocean, big". There are beautiful moments mixed into every day. Sometimes they are easy to spot and plentiful and other times they are few and far between and you have to really try to figure out what to call joyful. But they are there and I'm grateful for them.
1 comment:
Great post. :) Justis is being more difficult lately too. I took them to the grocery store and Target and regretted it most of the time. :) But then, he smiles or does something cute, and you have to hold on to that (sometimes for dear life). :)
As far as the nap thing goes - I find the same problem also goes for bedtime. No matter how many times I tell myself that if I let him stay up a little later at night then he'll sleep in... he doesn't. He just wakes up cranky.
:)
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