This morning, I stayed home from church, trying to pull our house together and do some extra cooking for some family members who have recently had surgery. I helped Nathan get the girls out the door to church and set about my work. Sundays are always hard because when we get home the girls are hungry and tired and it is way past their usual nap time. I thought they seemed to be handling it pretty good considering. The twins slept two hours and Kaley rested a few minutes. Nathan was pretty tired from the morning and I was beginning to get a bit frazzled trying to get everything done. We got our deliveries ready and loaded everyone in the van. Our first stop went smoothly but it was quick and I am the only one who got out. The second stop was at my in-laws. The girls were excited to see Granny and Grandpa. Granny had just come home from the hospital and we wanted to bring some food and say hi. I had let the girls know ahead of time that we wouldn't stay long because Granny needed to rest and that they couldn't get a bunch of things out and make a mess. They were good at first, then Kaley wanted something to eat and the twins were fighting over the pump organ. We decided we needed to leave before things got worse and it was almost dinner time.
Since it had been a busy day and the girls had been relatively good, we thought we'd be good parents and take them to Chick-fil-A to eat and play. We stopped at the house to get some socks and at that point Sophie began to have melt down, wanting out of the van. Thankfully it wasn't far away but unfortunately we forgot that they are not open on Sundays. We needed a quick plan B so reluctantly we drove to Burger King all the while listening to Sophie scream. Getting out of the van we hoped she would calm down and be okay. Not so. We hurry to order and suddenly Kaley has to go to the bathroom. I leave Nathan standing there holding the twins and take her. At some point I hear a child screaming and pray it is not Sophie. If I could hear her in the bathroom stall I could only imagine how loud she was up close. Leaving the bathroom I am certain it is Sophie and fight the urge to leave and pretend I don't know them. We get our food and are relieved when something as simple as a french fry stops the tears. That is until the twins see the slide. At that point it was a fight to get them to eat anything. Finally we go to play and notice it really isn't for two year olds. We weren't too worried because it didn't seem the twins would be able to even pull themselves up the stairs to play on the other levels. To our surprise and alarm, Zoe, pulls herself up and proceeds to the top. We are once again amazed at her strength and persistence. We ask Kaley to watch her and help her get to the slide which is on the opposite side. Zoe of course, wanted nothing to do with Kaley, and couldn't be more thrilled than to experiment with her new found freedom. After a while, when Kaley was tired of playing and Sophie was getting upset over being left out, it was evident we might have trouble getting Zoe down. She had no desire to come down. Finally, Nathan had to take off his shoes and climb part way up and coax her down. She began to cry and by the time we got to the van both of the twins were screaming once again. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and forget about this whole experience. I was exhausted and so embarrassed. We were those people you pray you don't see at restaurants and public places. Now we have come home, bathed them, and put them all in bed and I guess I should be thankful we only had to put the twins back in bed 6 times. It could've been worse.
It now seems that they are all asleep and I can finally hear myself think again. What a day! What happen? What did we do wrong? Are we bad parents? And as I sit back and begin to relax and reflect over the day, I am reminded of how heavy hearted I felt earlier in the day as I got news of someone I knew in college passing away. Even sadder still when I shared the news with another college friend who not long ago lost her precious little boy. I suddenly felt disgusted with myself. Here I was, feeling sorry for myself and being consumed with my selfish thoughts. It occurred to me that either of these precious families would give anything to spend even a very bad day with these loved ones they lost. I became overwhelmed with this realization. Did I really have anything to complain about? Oh Lord, forgive me for taking so many things for granted. What a difference a day makes. Now, I wonder, which was the better day? Yesterday went smoothly and I don't think I really took much time to even seek the Lord let alone thank Him. Today, I felt frazzled and like a failure and cried out to the Lord. I am ending this day with a heart full of thankfulness for those whom the Lord has blessed me with for now. What a difference a day makes.
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