Disclaimer: I write this not because I feel that I deserve any extraordinary sympathy, but because I know that if you are a parent, you have experienced this as well and will be able to commiserate.
This is how my morning began:
5:45 a.m: I hear a loud piercing scream over the monitor. Jim is already gone, so I jump out of bed and into Jackson’s room to see what is wrong. “Mommy, my nose is not working! Fix it, fix it please!” I grab a kleenex and have him to blow his nose a few times. Then I tell him that it is still dark outside and that he needs to go back to sleep. But he is still upset about the nose thing and there is no coaxing him back to bed.
“Momma, I want to come and snuggle with you in your bed.” Usually this would sound so sweet and appealing to me, but at this hour all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. I told him that if he came in my bed, that there would be no talking or playing, but only sleeping. He agrees, and foolishly I believe him. Of course he brings his blanket, and a small dolphin so that he is not lonely, and a small penguin so that the dolphin is not lonely.
5:49 a.m. After laying there all of 1.5 minutes, he says “Look mom, I have a trick to show you.” I turn to him and watch his “trick” of the dolphin and the penguin flying over my head. I tell him that was a great trick, but that he had promised to snuggle and be quiet in mommy’s bed.
5:51 a.m After laying there for 42 more seconds, “Mommy, mommy, I have another trick to show you!” I say,”No Jackson. It’s quiet time, remember?” “Just one more trick momma. This one is good.” He says. I tell him I will watch this trick, but then no more after that. He says okay and then again, foolishly, I believe him. I watch the second “trick” of the dolphin and penguin crashing into each other. “Wow, cool!” I say, and then roll over closing my eyes.
5:54 a.m. “Momma, I think I want to go play in my room,” Jacskon says. I tell him that sounds like a great idea, and that I will set the timer and he can come out when the timer goes off. Then I remind him that I put his favorite Elmo music book on his reading chair. He runs into his room and I roll over again closing my eyes, thankful for his good idea.
5:56 a.m. I hear “Mommmmmaaaaaaaaaa! I can’t find it! Mommmmmaaaaaaaaa!” I know that ignoring this won’t make it stop, so i go in to his room and point to his Elmo music book (which was next to the chair, not on it). “Oh, there it is! Thanks mom!” He says, and I stumble back to bed.
6:00 a.m. I hear breathing by the side of my bed. Then my face is patted. “Mommy are you awake?” he says. “Yes, Jackson. I’m awake.” I say. “Momma, I can’t hear time timer. Where is the timer?”
This all made me think about the tenacity of children, and made me wonder what I might be able to accomplish if I had even half of his tenacity.
After my first cup of coffee, I prayed for tenacity like this.
