Simon is so good with that. As long as his little belly is fed at breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and he is in bed by 8:30 and naps for the afternoon he could care less what happens in between. Seriously, give the boy a toy and do with him what you please.
Abigail isn't. It has been five holiday seasons and each one I forget that without steady moments between mealtimes and bedtimes and rest she can't eat or sleep and the stress builds from there.
Today she was melting down because of a banana. Yes, a banana which she couldn't open and wouldn't ask for help, opting instead to slam it off of the table and rage. The poor girl needed a nap, yet, I knew she wasn't about to fall asleep. And it wasn't about disobedience. She was going to be unable to sleep until the stress built up in her little body was spent.
I carried Simon to his bed, gave him his pacifier. He went to sleep. I prayed walking back to my wailing girl. And I remembered. And I sit with our waking hours and I place again stops between those of physical sustenance, places where her heart can rest.
And I become grateful for the mundane, the everyday life we live--
:: baskets of books ::
:: 7:00 on the clock ::
:: time set for glue and paint and paper ::
:: snow pants and big coats ::
:: sleepy songs reminding us that He is steady ::
And I remember that it is the expected that makes the unexpected, the waiting, the surprise so much better.
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