I have 3 children age 5 and under.   Needless to say, on more days than others I am either completely worn out or simply shaking my head at the rapid rate that they can absolutely destroy a house. Most days, I could quite literally feed an army just from the crumbs on my floor. I am completely in awe of my friends with small children who live in fancy houses with new carpet and furniture and somehow manage to keep them nice. My husband and I moved into the house we are in now about 2 1/2 years ago and made the conscience decision when we moved in the house to keep the old carpet rather than get new. The only reason we made that decision was because of the tornadoes we like to refer to as children. Between spilled juice, bodily fluids, and mud we have not regretted that decision.

Having children is a very interesting thing. When you are first married and get together with your family or friends that have kids, you have all sorts of philosophies and opinions about things. For instance, if their kids are interrupting your conversations or being bratty at a restaurant, you will likely have the conversation on the way home that goes something like this:  “Can you believe how bratty that little boy was? I will tell ya one thing, if I ever have kids they will not act like that in public, they just had no control over him.” Now, fast forward a few years and all the sudden you realize just how wrong you were. Not only are your kids acting up in the restaurant, but when you jump on them and try to stop the issue, they explode in the loudest crying fit you have ever heard. They have such a melt down that you feel the urge to apologize to everyone in the restaurant, then hide out and never take your kids in public again. Life is funny that way. Kids are more unpredictable than you can ever imagine.

So, how exactly do you win when it comes to toddlers. Sadly, in short, you don’t. You will never be able to control every melt down and fit. However, slowly over time you can have small victories that will lead into bigger ones. I love the Amplified version of Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], even when he is old he will not depart from it.” When you train an animal it isn’t instant. It takes persistence and practice. It is the same with kids. They will not know how to act in public until they have practice. They won’t learn how to handle their emotions, until we show them over and over and over again.

Today was one of those days that I really need to lean into the wisdom of that verse. It was a day that as soon as a mess was cleaned up, another appeared. The day started with my youngest standing in her crib, while her poopy diaper that she had figured out how to take off laid on the floor.  My middle daughter chose to eat a stack of crackers all at once and created a massive cracker extravaganza on the floor. At one point I was folding laundry in one room and my youngest was dumping out an entire bag of Chex mix in another room. While I cleaned up that mess, that same child found a marker that her older sisters had been asked to put away and decided to draw all over her favorite baby dolls.  Even my almost 6 year old was not innocent, as she continually chooses to drag her favorite blanket (that happens to be a full sized quilt) all through the house, dragging every toy, crumb, and anything else along with it.

After almost 6 years of being a mother, I have slowly started learning to let go. Some days are amazing, some days (like today) I simply must shake my head and just deal with the mess. I definitely about lost my cool on several occasions today, but at the end of the day when my little girls just want a hug and a kiss before they go to bed, I remember how cool being a mom is.  The messes won’t last forever, but the impact I can make on my little girls will. I just pray that despite my impatience and imperfections, that my girls will all grow up to be the women of God that they are called to be.