This morning I was awoken to, "MOM! Come wipe my bottom!!!!" Can I tell you that this rather jolting way of waking up was much better than the 3 AM, "I'm wet." Ahhh! Life.
I am going to make a statement here and just let it be heard. Raising boys has been more than it's fair share of insanity. My college girlfriend visited me last year and brought her delightful children, two of which were girls. The girls promptly went to the front toy room and started playing school, quietly. Meanwhile, my children were in the living room jumping off the couch and chairs (this happens daily and we try to make it clear that our couches and chairs are the only displaced diving boards allowed). I knew I was destined to have boys and if we decided to go all Duggar-esque, which we are NOT, they would all be boys. I guarantee it. Also, we can only watch 30 minutes of a program involving some sort of martial arts before the maneuvers displayed have to be tried out on a brother or our dog. And the energy is amazing! I'm pretty sure it multiplies in the bathtub before bed and can only be used while running naked through the bedrooms upstairs.
Now, Brad is also a boy and I trust him (most of the time) with our children's well-being and safety. Last week we watched Wipeout with the boys present. The next evening I came home to Bennett jumping off a 4 foot high barstool into the "water". Currently we have not been to the E.R. with any casualties of Wipeout (I hope you can hear me knocking on wood right now). Brad also set up an entire obstacle course to resemble the challenges...ah, memories! This morning he and Bennett had a complete conversation in jibberish. Both seemed very convincing.
Here are some photos of the Wipeout course...
Isaiah dresses himself for everything and so my child did go to school with a pirate shirt, orange shorts, red baseball socks pulled to his knees and neon orange tennis shoes. This is not far from his church attire, but he dresses himself! That's success in my book and someday will be a lesson on image building I am sure. Bennett likes to run, a LOT. Mostly away from us. In fact, we were at the aquarium one day and realized that maybe we had said his name one too many times when the little girl that was slightly ahead of us during our tour (and a complete stranger) yelled, "Here comes Bennett!" We get our fair-share of "go away Mommy/Daddy" and Brad and I would just like to know where do we go that they will not follow? Nights are complicated and we end up rotating from sleeping in one of the six beds that occupy our bedrooms. I usually average 3 out of 6 on bad nights.
I share all of this because back in my "dark ages," aka post-partum depression, I couldn't fully enjoy this. I just was overwhelmed. Sometimes I'm still overwhelmed, but I now let a snuggle or hug melt that away. During all the last 8 months, my kids have been a constant reminder of how each day is a choice to move on. You just get up and say, "Today is a whole new day to live for what's worth living, to forgive and go on. Oh wait, that isn't always so easy! But my family is a good reminder that every effort should be made to find the next fun, exciting thing. And they are a reminder that this world gives us joy with sorrow, everyday. Life is full of chaos and if we lose sight of what really matters, it just sucks us into the fray. So mi vida loca is just that, but with out a little crazy, we wouldn't have any fun!
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