Again?!?

Again?!? is Sweetpea's favorite word. She is very fond of replying to any request by this refrain. Yes, you must go to bed at night , again. Yes you must wash your hands before dinner, again. Yes you must use a kleenex for your runny nose and not your sleeve, again. Yes you must pick up the toys you dumped out on the floor, again. Yes, you must sit down to eat dinner, again. Of course I don't have this dialogue with her but it just is such a funny thing to say about repetitive events in life.........take another breath, Again?!?

Right now the two littles are napping. It seems the only time I can sneak in some blog time. I have a 5 minute check timer running for her naps so that I can make sure that she is closely supervised at all times. Every 5 I go get a visual to make sure she has not woken and gotten into something she shouldn't.....and she knows exactly where those soft targets are.

Today my beloved went to work and I have had a good trial day of having 4 doing school without help. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is that the oldest 2 are so diligent with their work and do much of it independently. The younger two I have clustered together so we school in tandem, and it worked. Most of their morning activity really consisted of play playdough and making things. Their friendship seems to be growing and that is huge.

After lunch as the littlest button was doing her cleanup I cuddled Sweetpea on the coach. She has been very resistant to this and after battling me over lunch she was none too keen to go to the coach. Yet. with gentle coaxing she crawled into the love nest and we started chatting. I found out that she does in fact know that her birthday is in Oct but she doesn't know the date. Her favorite color is pink and her favorite fruit is apple. She likes apple juice and orange juice and strawberry ice cream with sauce. It was the most productive chat we have had so far and I know this may seem so minute but the fact that she is now trusting me with simple details and not playing games and making rude comments is great growth. Any moment of great growth I will take. She tired at that point and I could tell it was going to take a turn in the wrong direction so I asked if she would like to hear a story. I began with 2 characters and quickly said a prayer that some storyline worth listening to would come to my mushy tired brain. God prevailed and out spun a great tale. My little button, hearing a tale being spun, hurriedly joined on the coach and sat right in a danger zone in front of Sweetpea. I expected a small kick or some other unkindness to follow the perceived intrusion but there was none and we all got wrapped up in the telling of and listen to the story. I was amazed that each was able to be still for the long tale and there was no acting out. It gives me great hope.

I think one of the hardest parts of my days right now is that everything, everything in life has to be so intentional and deliberate. That is a lot of brain power working overtime. Yet, I know that it is where we set the stage for the rest of our time together, charting a course to calm water from the turbulence of what she feels is normal. Problems arise when her "normal" and our "normal" clash and she is very adept at bringing her "normal" to bear wherever she is. We understand that chaos and turbulence feels safe to her and is what she is used to but we seek to show her gradually that the calm waters of self control and structure will bring her the peace her heart cries out for.

Today is a very special day in our family as our second button turns the big 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her biggest wish on this birthday was that it would snow and by 10 am it was doing just that. Isn't God a sweet God who grants us wishes of our hearts when they seem inconsequential?

It is hard for us to grasp that our little bit is growing up so fast. She is a delight to us and full of spunk and tenderness.

We told her last night a surprise was coming at 8 in the morning for her. When everyone woke up this morning we did not let them get breakfast as usual and made them wait until 8 o'clock when the doorbell rang and Mrs. G, our dear friend and super chef, appeared bearing a birthday breakfast for all of us to share. What a delight that was to her! Thank you Mrs. G for your vast kindness and delicious meal.