Recognizing Tender Mercies

Today was one of those bad days!! I was up about 5 times with children and so forcing myself out of bed was a chore. Also when I'm tired my body will just ache. That was today. My legs and body were just throbbing. Sitting under a warm blanket with my fit up is about the only thing that will take the pain away. Well when my kids see me doing that they think its free reign in the house. My walls were decorated with color pencils, all the books on my book shelf became their train to jump around from book to book, water color paint came out and of course food everywhere. So I got grumpy. Kinnley was having one of her monsterous meltdowns that happens all the time now and I was trying to get Abree fed and out the door to preschool and Kodi is doing who knows what to poor Hope. I snapped! I went to get onto Kodi because Kinnley wasn't listening at all and Kodi looked up at me with the saddest little face, the big brown eyes and water paint on her nose. In that moment I just started laughing. How could I yell at her when she just was so innocent? I needed that tender mercy more then anything else today. I needed to stop and laugh. It set me back into place and help me remember what my roll as a mother is. It is not to yell and scream and go crazy. It is to love the little moments of chaos that comes. Laugh with them and then work together to fix and solve the problem.

I'm so grateful I am a mother and that my kids are teaching me so many things.