Today was one of those days. The kids were up later than usual last night and so were cranky this morning. It was special breakfast day (our Saturday tradition), and after sleeping in my husband decided that HE wanted to make breakfast. Knowing that it would take a bit longer than if I did it, I let them each have a bite of left-over Nanaimo Bar to tide them over till the french toast was ready. Any guesses at where this will be going? They're tired and now hyped up on sugar...
So, after breakfast we did what any sane parent would do in this type of situation- we took all five of them SHOPPING! To not just one place, mind you- we were going to two places. Oh.My.Goodness! Can we say brain-dead?
First, a Marshall's store had recently opened at the new shopping centre being built in town, so my darling hubby wanted to go check it out. Truth be told I was curious as well, so that was our first stop.
After the requisite whining about who was going to sit where (which was heightened with hubby there, since now ALL the seats would be occupied in the mini-van), only a few comments about my driving and choice of parking spot, as well at the directive to not ask for ANYTHING- we arrive at said store.
The funniest part of the whole experience was the greeter- she commented that if our kids got bored while we were shopping that we could just send them to play on the escalator! Seriously? I turned to my husband, rolled my eyes and wondered out loud what on earth she was thinking!
Anyway, I was quite disappointed with it all- just looked like Winners to me. Not that I mind it and occasionally shop there, but when things get hyped up like this development has- well, it was a bit of a let-down. Hopefully the rest of the stores will be a bit more interesting.
Then we were off to one of the local greenhouses to get some flowers for a planter in our front yard. If you know me at all, you'll know that gardening is NOT my strong suit. I do better with sugar flowers and such with my cake decorating than with real stuff. But, we decided that we don't want to have the ugliest yard on the block, so some flowers were needed to try and get things going.
Well, in order to get there, we needed to get back into the vehicle and drive there. Did I mention that the kids were cranky (sugar crash, anyone?) and that ALL the seats are taken when all 7 of us are in there? The crying melt-down here SHOULD have been a STRONG indicator that proceeding to the NEXT stop would NOT be a wise choice.
Take a guess on if we listened to that? Uhm, nope! You'd think after 12 years of child-rearing we might have gleaned an insight or two? Well probably, but we threw it out the window and went headlong into the fire.
And it was a disaster! Fighting, yelling, bickering, whining, etc. You name it- we had it (even from the kids!).
I finally told my husband to take the younger ones to the van so I could finish picking out the flowers.
Once we finally go home and fed the kids (oh yeah, add hungry kids to that mix- face palm!), everyone, including parents got sent to rooms for a nap.
I, however, spent the entire time wondering why on earth we had done that! Wondering if maybe we had missed what God had REALLY wanted us to do today and instead followed our own agenda- which is why things went so badly?
Later, one of my kids made the comment that we'd succeeded at something today- having the LONGEST Saturday ever! He couldn't believe how long this day was dragging out to be (probably had something to do with the fact that they were also grounded from screen-time and the neighbour kids weren't home to play with).
Thankfully the day ended somewhat well. After the rain finally stopped this evening, my husband got the flowers planted- and even let a couple of the boys help with one or two (the ones that they had helped to pick out).
As they stood back to admire the plants, the fighting, whining and boredom seemed to melt away as they looked on with pride at what we had created together. Something beautiful.
Thankfully, that's a lot like life. There are good days and bad days, but God has promised that for those who love him, ALL things will work out for good (Rom. 8:28).
It means that 'those days' can turn into something beautiful. Today I choose to remember the 'something beautiful'. And hopefully I'll have the flowers to remind me of it all summer and fall.
Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy
So, after breakfast we did what any sane parent would do in this type of situation- we took all five of them SHOPPING! To not just one place, mind you- we were going to two places. Oh.My.Goodness! Can we say brain-dead?
First, a Marshall's store had recently opened at the new shopping centre being built in town, so my darling hubby wanted to go check it out. Truth be told I was curious as well, so that was our first stop.
After the requisite whining about who was going to sit where (which was heightened with hubby there, since now ALL the seats would be occupied in the mini-van), only a few comments about my driving and choice of parking spot, as well at the directive to not ask for ANYTHING- we arrive at said store.
The funniest part of the whole experience was the greeter- she commented that if our kids got bored while we were shopping that we could just send them to play on the escalator! Seriously? I turned to my husband, rolled my eyes and wondered out loud what on earth she was thinking!
Anyway, I was quite disappointed with it all- just looked like Winners to me. Not that I mind it and occasionally shop there, but when things get hyped up like this development has- well, it was a bit of a let-down. Hopefully the rest of the stores will be a bit more interesting.
Then we were off to one of the local greenhouses to get some flowers for a planter in our front yard. If you know me at all, you'll know that gardening is NOT my strong suit. I do better with sugar flowers and such with my cake decorating than with real stuff. But, we decided that we don't want to have the ugliest yard on the block, so some flowers were needed to try and get things going.
Well, in order to get there, we needed to get back into the vehicle and drive there. Did I mention that the kids were cranky (sugar crash, anyone?) and that ALL the seats are taken when all 7 of us are in there? The crying melt-down here SHOULD have been a STRONG indicator that proceeding to the NEXT stop would NOT be a wise choice.
Take a guess on if we listened to that? Uhm, nope! You'd think after 12 years of child-rearing we might have gleaned an insight or two? Well probably, but we threw it out the window and went headlong into the fire.
And it was a disaster! Fighting, yelling, bickering, whining, etc. You name it- we had it (even from the kids!).
I finally told my husband to take the younger ones to the van so I could finish picking out the flowers.
Once we finally go home and fed the kids (oh yeah, add hungry kids to that mix- face palm!), everyone, including parents got sent to rooms for a nap.
I, however, spent the entire time wondering why on earth we had done that! Wondering if maybe we had missed what God had REALLY wanted us to do today and instead followed our own agenda- which is why things went so badly?
Later, one of my kids made the comment that we'd succeeded at something today- having the LONGEST Saturday ever! He couldn't believe how long this day was dragging out to be (probably had something to do with the fact that they were also grounded from screen-time and the neighbour kids weren't home to play with).
Thankfully the day ended somewhat well. After the rain finally stopped this evening, my husband got the flowers planted- and even let a couple of the boys help with one or two (the ones that they had helped to pick out).
As they stood back to admire the plants, the fighting, whining and boredom seemed to melt away as they looked on with pride at what we had created together. Something beautiful.
Thankfully, that's a lot like life. There are good days and bad days, but God has promised that for those who love him, ALL things will work out for good (Rom. 8:28).
It means that 'those days' can turn into something beautiful. Today I choose to remember the 'something beautiful'. And hopefully I'll have the flowers to remind me of it all summer and fall.
Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy
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