Let me rephrase..."it's been a longggggggggg week"...
I am thankful that my hubby's travel did not start out like this...I"m thankful that I've had plenty of years to get used to things before he has to head out to California or up to Canada or down to Georgia or over to New York for days at a time...
And yet, it's not really something we girls get used to...I still get the tears in the morning when they realize that Daddy won't be home for a few days...
This week I decided to keep us all busy so that we'd fall into bed at night and sleep in in the mornings and make it through until Friday when Daddy finally got home...
This worked splendidly for the the girls...we went to the park, the zoo, the library, the pool...we grocery-shopped, I taught them how to sew flowers and quilts, we played the piano, we watched a couple movies, we baked banana bread...we had sleep-overs every night in Mommy's bed...
I WAS exhausted and would have LOVED to fall into bed and actually SLEEP this week..but that didn't necessarily happen due to my over-active brain and fears of fires, tornadoes, break-ins, and girls that needed drinks of water at 3am.
The good news is that we DID make it...Little Munchkin is a bit more cranky than usual and 3 of the 4 of us caught colds in the meantime...but, I did see some pretty awesome heart changes in them this week that made it worthwhile...
I shared on facebook earlier about Little Munchkin...but I'll share it here too...
She had a temper tantrum at the library this week. Out of my girls, she is the one that I have struggled the most with parenting...the other two were and are compliant...stern looks and remorseful hearts easily change behavior and attitudes...Little Munch, though...she's in a category all her own...she has a WILL and she knows how to use it. I've walked a fine line between "she's only 3" and " good lord, let's get out of here before someone recognizes us!" My goal with all my girls is heart change...the behavior would be great as well..DUH...but what I'm really after is that they 'get' what I'm saying in their hearts...that they want to obey, that they will, when given the choice, chose the wisest path...
My older two make mistakes, don't get me wrong, but their hearts are soft and moldable...they often think about their actions before hand...my eldest especially...
Little Munchkin on the other hand, thinks of herself...ONLY. It's a selfish life I'll tell you! I love her to pieces though and there are times that I can see a change beginning to take place...this week was one of those times...
She fell apart at the library...she wanted to do something a specific way and it just wasn't happening...I attempted to help, but decided that it wasn't the best choice and gave her another option...she didn't like that and let me know it...and apparantly the rest of the library as well.. We exited rather quickly and set out to the car. At which point, I had to pick her up and carry her b/c it seems that her legs were glued to the sidewalk and if she pulled away from me one more time, I was going to get angry instead of dealing with the situation calmly:)
It was a long and quiet ride home. She wasn't allowed to speak...but I spoke to her...her sisters were caving to her tears, but I asked them to stay the course! After arriving at home, everyone got out of the car and went to do their next "thing"...I set to making lunch and emailing Daddy...she found me in the office...blankie in tow...
"Mommy...??" she said in barely a whisper.
I looked over at her...I must be completely honest, just a little frazzled and exhausted from the trip and wondering what MORE she was going to demand of me.
"I so sorry for having a temper" she replied...her arms hanging limply at her side. I could see the tears starting in her eyes as she waited for me to make the next move.
I walked around the desk and knelt on the floor next to her and scooped her into my arms..."I so so sorry for my temper" she said again. And I looked at this sweet bundle in my lap and thanked Jesus for a tender heart...thanked Him that He had held my anger in check...that I didn't allow her temper to continue, but that I didn't crush her in the process...that she is beginning to see life outside herself and see how her actions and attitudes affect other people too...
She's almost 4...I know we have a ways to go...but it was a light for me this week especially...
