Saturday, December 12, 2009

Loving My Child in the Mess

Babies are sweet, and each one is a miracle. A woman spends nine months wondering what her baby will be like and anticipating holding him. The day comes when he is born, and she feels overwhelmed with love for him. And then one day she wakes up and realizes that her life now revolves around... poop. Does the baby poop too much? Or is he constipated? And later still, when the baby becomes a toddler, she enters his room only to discover that once again her precious child has decided to smear his poop all over himself, the crib, and the wall.

This is how I feel today. Like my life now revolves around poop. My son has decided that poop = paint. So one can only imagine the fun times I've had as of late. It seems that no matter what I do differently, at least once a day I am cleaning up his "artwork" that inevitably comes in one form or another. Ah, the life of a stay at home mom. But as I was saying to my husband, it's all worth it. Even if I'm cleaning up poop every day, at least I get the chance to stay home with my kids, loving on them and teaching them.

I get to teach them patience, because apparently that is one of the lessons God is wanting me to learn. I teach them manners ("No yelling inside. What do you say? Don't bite your sister!"). I teach them love. To me, love is the most important. I must be somewhat of a decent teacher, because my kids really do seem to love each other. So, I remind myself, amidst the arguing kids and the "paint removal" resides a sweet family that I wouldn't trade for the world.