Infected

The exuberance of children can be exhausting or infectious. You get to choose.

–So read the quote on my calendar yesterday! Unfortunately, yesterday was one of those days when I chose not to be “infected” by my kids exuberant behavior. I rolled through the day with my eyes half-shut, having woken up that way earlier (much, much earlier) than I would have liked. But my kids didn’t seem to notice my lethargic “half-there” attitude. If there was ever a day that they said “I love you Mom”, it was yesterday.

When I hustled them through an activity or a meal; they bounded along faster than I expected they could. When I told them not to play some game that was “messing up too much stuff”; they gleefully invented a new one (that involved even more paraphernalia, of course)! I could not dampen their enthusiasm, curb their inventions, disturb their imaginations or quell their exuberance. (Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that they played happily without a single argument or problem while I read for an hour and then worked out for an hour after that. Sweet angels!) I could do no wrong by them. –Not that I wanted to. No way! It’s just that I was exhausted from nursing them through fevers and coughs this past week. Their energy made me feel old, grumpy, and bothered.

Finally, after dinner, when I had promised they could finish playing one of their games; I instead made them follow me through a department store on a shopping trip. As bored as they were, they willingly found something to do: Ye ole “hide in the clothing racks” was their game of choice. Followed by: “push the shopping cart joyfully down the isle with brother or little sister standing on the other end of it giggling so hard you just know they’re going to end up in stitches”! Many times during that trip I calmed them down and quieted their laughter.

When we got home I walked by my desk and read the quote for the day. Right away I knew I had failed to choose correctly. What fun we would have had together today if I had chosen to be infected with my kids inexplicable happiness and contagious laughter. Feeling sorry that I hadn’t, I apologized to them that shopping had taken so long and they didn’t have enough time now before bed to play their game. My son responded, “That’s okay mommy. Don’t worry about it! We’re happy because we got to be with YOU today mommy!” –Happy to be with me? “Yeah, mommy. Because it’s nice to be with you.” my little girl added. Really? -With Mrs. Grumps?

Today I chose the better part. I woke up determined that whatever my kids were happy about today, I would be happy about too! -Nope, scratch that. I would be exuberant about it!

Those things turned out to be: a cartoon I have see a hundred times; less-than-perfect pancakes; pieces of scrap paper and cardboard; animal picture books; a game of tag-and-diaper-change (where I am it and Emmer is crawling or running away from me -laughing and squealing- while I chase him down with wet wipes and a his diaper); having Emmer and cousin Trei “water my jeans” with their watering cans (so my legs will grow? )and splash me from their pool because “it is fun” to watch me squint and wrinkle my nose up as the water hits my face; going to a park by the railroad tracks that we haven’t been to in a long while; passing out (Gospel) tracts to the people who passed by (running full speed to catch up with some of them because the kids didn’t want to “miss anyone”); waving goodbye to people who boarded the town train; praying with four people to receive Jesus in their hearts and receive the gift of Salvation; eating chicken nuggets and fried potatoes dipped in ketchup; filling up water bottles, and giving countless hugs to the little bodies that couldn’t stay in their beds tonight –even after such an exuberant day!

At the end of the day, I feel pretty great! I think I like the choice that I made. I think I’ll choose it again tomorrow.