Discipline. I hate disciplining them. Gracie has been going through another testing phase lately. Pushing against the rules that bind her to being three-almost-four, trying to be more independent, assert her own desires and will.
That is natural. It is understandable. I don't like being bossed around either. But I had to have my turn there, and that is how this part goes. So there have been lots of consequences, lots of time outs, and I even sat on the floor and cried after she went to bed one night. Where is my sweet, lovely girl, and what have I done to force her away?
Steve told me I haven't done anything wrong. That it is just a phase. I know that, in my mind, but so much of mothering goes on in your heart, doesn't it?
She is already talking about how I won't be in charge of her when she is eighteen.
And I just keep thinking... don't be in such a hurry to grow up....
things I love
The smell of their hair when its all dried off after a bath.
Their laughter in another room; that it means they are playing happily together, unrefereed, and that their love has lit the other up from the inside.
How Charlie backs up into my lap now with a book in his chubby hands and says, "Book! Book" until I read, and, when we finish, says, "Book! Book!" until I read it again.
Finding toys set up around the house after bedtime or during naptime. Last night a plastic horse stood sentinel outside Charlie's bedroom door as he slept.
When they are kind to someone else, on their own, when they don't know I am watching.
How Gracie worries for anyone who is injured.
When she makes a connection between a word we've read in morning scripture study and the real world and shouts something like, "WILDERNESS!?!?! THAT'S LIKE IN THE SCRIPTURES!!!!!!!!"
That pleased little smile babies get when they accomplish something new. Proud of themselves. The I-did-it smile.
Their cheeks. I could kiss their cheeks all day long. I do. Every time I pick them up, I kiss their cheeks.
How they lay their heads on my shoulder when they're tired.
How they both insist on cramming themselves onto my lap--together--when we read.
When they lean back against me during a good story and relax into the moment.
How Gracie wants to be like me, dress like me, wear chapstick and brush her hair. How she beams under praise. How she loves hard and fiercely, like I do. How I know her so well, because she is so much like me.
Charlie's mischievous smile, the aw-come-on-just-one-more-time! smile that steals across his face when I've caught him climbing up the couch or pushing the button on a forbidden electronic device.
How they hug my legs.
How Gracie draws pictures of me, and tells me I "look like a doll" and tells her daddy that he "looks so handsome."
How sweet they look when they sleep.
How happy/bubbly/energetic they are in the morning.
How Gracie always tries to climb into bed with me when she wakes us up (the MINUTE her clock says 7:00).
1 comment:
Love.
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