The Feast

There are moments with my kids that I never want to forget.  I never want to forget them because they are sweet and beautiful and dear and darling.  I also don't want to forget because they often teach me something about myself.

On this particular day, I was laying Lilly down for a nap.  She was struggling a bit, so I was singing to her and rocking her to help calm her down.  The boys were in the kitchen coloring. When I walked into the living room, the boys came running out of the kitchen. yelling. 

"Mommy, Mommy!  We have a surprise for you!  Come into the kitchen."

I did.

There on the benches sat 4 glasses of water.  On the counter sat 4 bowls of nuts and an almost empty nut jar.  

"See, Mommy.  We made you a feast."

"Do you like it?"

"We did it all by ourselves. We poured the water and we opened the nut jar and poured out the nuts.  We even made some for Lilly."

"Isn't it nice Mommy?  Now you can have a break and you don't have to make us snacks cause we know how to do it ourselves."

 "I love it!  I really do.  I can't believe you did this all by yourselves.  You are my big boys."

I really did love it.  It warmed my heart that they wanted to do something special for me.  That they had everything displayed with such pride.  I think a lot about the kind of husbands they will be someday.  I work hard to teach them how to treat their wives.  I think this is a step in the right direction.

A minute later, William pointed to a bowl on the floor and some nuts strewn under the booth.  "Mommy, are we going to get in trouble for that mess?  We spilled some and Jamers said we were going to get in trouble but I said we weren't."

It was a flashback from my childhood.  Me:  "Ben, we have to clean this up before Mom gets home.  You better help me right now."

Ben: "She's not going to be mad.  And if she is, who cares?  What's she gonna do?"

Me: clean feverishly while calling Ben every name I could think of.  Under my breath, of course.

And if I didn't clean up, my Mom probably wouldn't have been (too) mad.  (Just kidding, Mom.)

So is this the reaction they expect of me?  Do I get angry over things as insignificant as spilled nuts.  I am afraid that sometimes, yes, I do.  What a good lesson my boys taught me.  Maybe they made a mess, but they also made me a feast.  What matters most?  It is all a matter of perspective.  Sometimes I choose to view things with the wrong perspective.  I am grateful God gave me 3 little people to help me choose the right perspective every day.