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Day 25: Two Weeks Later {#write31days}

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I will be the first to admit I love list making and small-goal setting. Most of my affection is because I enjoy checking things off my lists or goal sheets. We moved two weeks ago today, and I SO hoped to have every box unpacked. I wanted things on the walls, and I wanted this house to feel like “home.” Unfortunately there are still plenty of boxes, and I’m not sure it feels like coming home when I arrive here.

I’m thankful that even though my personal goals may not have been met, I have the advice and encouragement from others that it’s a long process. We have friends at church who confessed to is that they still have boxes from a move over a year ago! One fellow #write31days blogger and frequent mover said to expect it to take up to six months before it really feels like home.

I’m hoping today I can get more boxes unpacked and we are another day closer to it feeling like home, but I’m not going to be discouraged if things on my list don’t get checked off. I’m beginning to understand just how long of a process making a move can really be.

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I.T.S. {Irrational Toddler Syndrome}

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My kid has ITS. I don’t need a doctor’s diagnosis. I just know. Sometimes I wish there was a “quick fix,” a pill, or anything other than my desperate R E P E A T E D attempts to bestow some sort of logic or reason into my child. Don’t misunderstand, my boy is a JOY, a BLESSING, and I wouldn’t give him up for all the world…however, there are times when I think it is SO odd that a person of such small stature can have such strong, absolutely INSANE opinions. And without fail, his irrationality can cause me to lose my mind and become irrational as well. Is ITS contagious?!? I’m sure my baby will catch on soon.

ITS

 

Some irrational behaviors include:

  • any drop of water on any article of clothing means ALL clothes must come off IMMEDIATELY. (perhaps he’ll melt if not?)
  • related to water on clothing…washing his hair. I’ve been afraid that the neighbors will report us for disturbing the peace or domestic disturbance. If you listen in on a hair washing, you would probably assume he’s being murdered.
  • tags on clothing…remove all the tags! (if not extreme whining and somewhat comical attempts at removing the clothing will ensue)
  • a deathly fear of spiders (but he’ll kill a fly or squish a worm with his bare hands)
  • if he’s cold, then a blanket must cover E V E R Y inch of him up to his neck. If any appendage is peeking out from under said blanket, prepare for wailing and gnashing of teeth.
  • swings and slides–he must be coaxed to do any of them alone, but if he’s playing with friends, he’ll be quick to find the top of the slide. (We’re still trying to convince him that he’s “too big” for the baby swing. Pops attempted a little over Easter weekend. He LOVED it on Pops’ lap, but HATED it on his own.)

ITS2

If anyone knows of a cure for ITS, I’d love to hear it. For now, we use bribery, distraction, discipline, prayer…and we cut tags out of clothing, avoid spiders and wet shirts, and rarely wash hair.DSC_6071web

I’m sure someday we’ll look back and laugh at this. In the meantime, we’re gonna work on explaining 1 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a SOUND MIND.”

Kids Were Here, Vol. 3

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This photo is not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it’s a small glimpse into the current disarray that is my home. I was gone for the past two days on a girls shopping trip, so Dadda and the boys were left to themselves. Now I have an AMAZING husband. He’s a wonderful father, but it’s a known fact that if momma is away the boys will play and leave LOTS of messes. For some reason, my hair dryer had been lugged out to the living room floor along with a wooden spoon, original artwork, and a bazillion other toys and random things…

Momma's been away...

Momma’s been away…

Now go check out Charity’s lovely post of Kids Were Here for this month!

Three is HARD

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Someone should’ve warned me just how difficult a three-year-old can be. I’ve always heard about the “terrible twos,” perhaps I’m looking back with rose-colored glasses, but in our house, 2 didn’t seem all that terrible. Sure there were tantrums, the whole potty-training bit, and general neediness, but that was nothing compared to 3. When did this adorable, intelligent, energetic baby become such a demanding, constantly negotiating, very opinionated child? One minute he’s strangling his baby brother and the next he’s saying, “I love you mama” in an aren’t-I-so-sweet-and-innocent voice.

This morning was especially hard. Dadda had to be at a powerlifting meet by 6:30, which meant everyone was awake extra early–like 5:45 AM. (In my honest, accurate opinion, if the sun is not up, then I shouldn’t be either.) Curious George was not the babysitter I hoped for, so anything more than 10 minutes for shower, make-up, etc. was out of the question for this momma. Both boys needed to be held and cuddled, and it’s times like this that I wonder why God didn’t give parents more arms.  Sadly, when both are crying and having meltdowns, I tend to have less patience (and since it was 6:15 AM on a Friday, I had zero patience) with my three year old. I know I should be more understanding….he was INSISTENT on wearing his basketball pants. (Again, I needed a warning that my 3 year old boy would have such strong opinions about his wardrobe.) Unfortunately, someone is behind on laundry and the basketball pants aren’t clean which caused an even bigger melt down, and it was all down hill from there. After lots of tears, the forceful putting on of pants, we loaded up and headed to school. I felt a wave of relief when I dropped the boys off, followed by immediate guilt.

Sure, three is hard. But three is also very entertaining, imaginative, inquisitive, and just plain fun. I love his constant questions, his playful imagination, his need for social interaction and the great outdoors. I love that he wants to read books over and over and play “school.” I love how he {sometimes} want to play with his younger brother (this of course is short-lived because the next minute he’s pushing or choking him).  I’m certain every age will be hard, but I don’t want to waste the time I’m given with them. I don’t want to react in anger or not have any patience just because it’s still dark outside on a Friday morning. My boys are not inconveniences. They are precious gifts. I can only pray that God’s grace will be sufficient, that His power and strength will be evident in  my NUMEROUS weaknesses.

On another note, I’ve discovered that I tend to accompany apologies with food…like, “I’m sorry this morning is rough. Want to grab a donut before school?” Pretty sure my boys will be in therapy someday for emotional eating…

Word dump….

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I’m certain this post will be a bit random, but I want to get some thoughts down. 

First, I read this quote recently, and it SO perfectly describes how I feel about photography these days: “Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” ~ Ira Glass ~  

In other random musings….I’m reading The Upside Down Marriage by Jim Keller, and even though I’m only a couple chapters in, I’ve already gleaned some wisdom. My favorite quote so far doesn’t necessarily apply to only marriage: “Being kind wins the day.” So often simple kindness will make a day brighter. It reminds me also of the verse from Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” I NEED to keep this in mind not just with the hubby, but with my boys, and the students and teachers I encounter at work. 

End word dump. 

P52 | Week 3 | My Favorite

P52 | Week 3 | My Favorite

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This photo isn’t anything portfolio worthy, but for a mama’s heart it’s a definite treasure. I work full-time as a school librarian, and while I love my job, my FAVORITE day is a “no school” day. (We were out today … Continue reading →

Kids Were Here, Vol. 1

Kids Were Here, Vol. 1

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I’m starting something new for 2014–a blog circle with a lovely group of fellow ClickinMoms! Each month we are posting images that show a small glimpse of life with kids and the various things they leave in their {sometimes messy} … Continue reading →

P52 | Week 1 | You

P52 | Week 1 | You

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BLAH. I do NOT understand the selfie craze, but at least I can check week one off my “to do” list. I took about 100 photos after school before my boys got home, and only 1 or 2 were even … Continue reading →

2014? Seriously?!?

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I find it hard to believe it’s 2014. I can remember as a kid thinking that anything past the year 2000 seemed far-fetched…perhaps we should be teleporting or something? I have a few things I’ve decided to accomplish this year. (Can you tell I’m avoiding calling them resolutions?)

One: INTENTIONAL living. I’m keeping a daily {brief} journal on a cool app called DayOne to help with this. I want to focus on CHOOSING joy and INTENTIONALITY in my daily life–parenting, work, relationships etc. I hate the thought that I’m wasting precious time with my little guys, so by God’s grace I’m going to soak up as much as possible.

Two: GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE. Seriously. I want to downsize so we have a few more options in terms of my job status. (SAHM, please?)

Three: photography! I’m a hobbyist for now, but would love to improve my skills enough to be worth paying…that means you’ll see more photos on here–I intend to do a P52 as well as a blog circle called Kids Were Here.

Here’s to a happy 2014!