"Juice peeze!!!!"
My sweet Zach loves the fact that we can now understand most everything he asks for. And one of his favorite things to ask for is juice. He asks often and persistently. This one day a while back he kept asking "juice peeze, juice peeze!!" I told him "bring me your cup and I'll get you some." He hesitated to comply with this request, but the reward of juice outweighed the satisfaction of disobedience...and so he brought me his cup. I took the lid off and pulled the applejuice from the fridge. Apparently my gratification of his request was not up to his speed, so he quickly grabbed the lid from his cup off the counter and ran off. I told him to bring me the lid so he could have his juice. I was surprised to see him sucking the life out of the sippy cup lid, laughing and smiling at the remnants of juice that were left from his empty cup. I said, "bring me the lid so you can get your FULL cup." "No"...my surprisingly (insert sarcasm) stubborn son said. I thought for a moment. How should I handle this direct defiance? I decided that this was an interesting lesson for both of us to learn! So I said, "Ok, when you are ready to obey mommy you can have a FULL cup of juice." He sucked on those remnants for a good 20 minutes, as content as can be.
Lesson #1: How often do I do this with God? I am satisfied by so little when He has so much more in store. He offers me a life that is FULL of his abundance. So often I am just like my stubborn toddler. I do not want to obey so I find myself sucking on the remnants of a sippy cup lid.
This idea was stirring in my brain from a friend who shared this same type of idea at my mom's group, GUM. To read her inspiring post, click here. Thanks Lindsay for getting the wheels moving! I was not surprised when I had a similar situation arise just days later.
"Cankee"
Potty training has opened Zach's llittle world to the wonderful treat of candy! He has learned that when he tells us he has to go (or has gone) he gets "CANKEE!" (candy). In fact this is how he tells us. "CANKEE!" he proclaims. We know that he has done his business. :)
Since candy is set aside for this reward, he doesn't get it any other time (unless he's with the grandparents!). It never even dawned on him to ask. He was perfectly content earning it. One day I decided to show my kiddo a little grace. We like inserting some mega fun into the daily grind of discipline and follow through. So I said to Zach, "come here...I have a surprise!" As he approached I pulled a piece of candy from behind my back. I wish I had a picture of his precious face. He was overjoyed! He wouldn't even put it in his mouth. He paraded around the house "Cankee, cankee, cankee!" He was so thrilled and so surprised by his mommy's shocking moment of generosity. :) Since this day, Zach has become a tireless solicitor for "Cankee". His eyes have been opened. It might not always be only for potty! So now all day, every day we find ourself saying "not now", "maybe later", "you haven't even eaten breakfast!", etc. etc. Every now and then we drop a doozy and throw a yummy candy in his day when he did nothing to earn it.
Lesson #2: How much more blessing does the Lord have in store for me...if I would only ask? Now just like Zach I know it doesn't come every single time I ask. But let me tell you, the persistence of my son softens my heart. So we have decided to ask for the blessings! You never know when He might drop a doozy of blessing on us.
"Hose"
This little nugget of truth just happened yesterday afternoon. Hence the final inspiration for this post. I was holding a fussy baby in my arms and had my oh-so-terribly two toddler literally standing on my feet hanging on my legs. I had to switch things up! I was moments away from losing my cool. Zach had been whining ALL DAY. This does something to my nerves. So I decided to go outside and water my new beautiful spring flowers in the midst of tantrums and tears. Zach stayed affixed to my legs and continued on with his not so happy heart. I was watering my flowers on the ever so gentle "mist" setting. Then a thought dawned on me. "I wonder what a little water would do?" Now not to be confused with borderline child abuse behavior, I decided to make a game of it. I told his tear stained face, "Mommy's gonna get you with the water!" He suddenly stopped, got a coy look on his face, and decided if it would be worth it to take me on. Again, "Mommy's gonna get you!" And I did it. I sprayed him with the hose. Again, all out of fun! What happened next was exactly what I was going for. It was like a switch flipped and my cranky toddler was his joyful, happy self! He began laughing hysterically and saying "water, water!" I was chasing and "misting" and even Sam got a little too! :) It did the trick. It shook him out of his funk and we had a great rest of the night.
Lesson #3: My toddler's taught me something. I know that my mood, my discontent heart, my cranky spirit must wear on my heavenly Father. Sometimes it takes a hose to get me attention. I'm hoping that I have learned the lesson enough that He can use the mist instead of having to use the jet. We have had our share of the jet setting, let me tell you. So lesson to be learned on a daily basis . Keep my heart in check so I just get the mist. :)
Here are some snapshots from moments that keep me going! :)
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