There is no doubt about it...I need patience!!! Just ask Chad :) I learned quickly after becoming a mom that I can't have everything run by my perfect schedule. It's just not possible. However, sticking to my type-A personality to-do lists and goals has become even more of a challenge since Luke's arrival. I just need to let some things go (e.g., spotlessness of the house and a schedule). This past week, God has given me a good lesson in patience, which of course I failed miserably.
It started on my birthday. Wouldn't ya know....my 30th birthday, that is! It wasn't exactly a day I was looking forward to, starting a new decade of age and all. But, it turned out worse than I could have imagined. Normally Luke wakes up twice in the night and even sometimes just once, though rare. Well, on my birthday, he woke up at 12:30 a.m., 3:30 a.m., and 5:30 a.m. Whew! I wasn't exactly perky when I woke up...or, did I ever go back to sleep? I can't remember. Then, Chad ended up having lunch plans at work and wasn't able to come home like he normally does so we could have lunch together. So, I was very much looking forward to Bunco night with my lady friends. So, fast-forward to 4:30 p.m. Since Chad wasn't able to do lunch, he was going to make me a dessert that evening to celebrate my birthday. I decided to just have him pick up some ice cream at the grocery store on the way home. As he walks down to put it in our basement freezer, I hear an "uh oh". Our basement was slowly flooding from the previous night's rain!!! Are you kidding me? We just got a new sump pump three years ago. There go my Bunco plans. So, we ended up having Little Caesar's pizza that night while I watch the kids and Chad cleaned the basement. Not exactly the plans I had in mind.
This takes us to Friday. Surely it has to be better, right? Well, I already had the kids packed in the van when Chad got home, because I wanted to go to the mall to make a return. I HAD to get out of the house! I had also packed up the second-hand double stroller I had just purchased from a friend and was really excited to use it. But, just my luck, I couldn't figure out how to get it open once we got there, so we decided to stop struggling with it in the parking lot of Kohl's and just come home. So, we spent our evening as a repeat of Thursday night...Chad was still plugging away in the basement and able to get a new sump pump in while I watched the kids.
Okay, now we're to Saturday. By the time the basement was finally cleaned up for good, it was noon. I was going to try the Kohl's trip again, so I took Meredith with me. She threw a fit in the parking lot of Kohl's and put up a fight getting into the cart once in the store. Terrible 2's, anyone? I decided to let her hold my keys as a distraction and it worked! She was calm. I made my return, purchased a replacement item, and made my purchase. Just as the cashier scanned my card, the computer blacked out. Never have I seen that happen! Long story short, I had to move to a new register and the system messed up, so it wouldn't print me a receipt. I was told to wait for a manager to come to fix the problem. After 15 minutes, I left without waiting for a receipt. Then, as Meredith and I are walking out, I hear a car alarm but don't think too much of it. That is, until I realize it's getting louder as we walk to the van. Yep, it was my van. Who knows how long it had been going off, since Meredith probably pushed the button sometime while waiting in Kohl's for the receipt.
After all of this, I woke up today (Sunday) and decided up front it was going to be a good day. I have had such a bad attitude and no patience lately with little things (refer to everything mentioned above!), that it does no good. The "woe is me" attitude needed to change. So, since only going to church twice since Luke was born, I went this morning and God spoke to me so powerfully. It was about family conflict and action steps I could take to change my family dynamic. I took from the sermon that I need to not use harsh words with my children (hard for me right now with two under two, one of which is a toddler that is learning how to push mommy and daddy's buttons), let go of things (stop nagging!), and bless my family (build them up and be positive, instead of spewing my negativity). I will say that today has been an AWESOME day!
