Have you ever been sick? Well of course you have, that was sort of a dumb question? BUT the real question is…have you ever been sick with eleven children and they were not sick? Well let me tell you the story of a mother, a mother that loves her children very much until she is sick and they are not.
Imagine the horror when I recently came down with a really bad cold and stomach bug. My first thoughts were, Oh Lord not me! I can’t do this, this week! Could we choose another week when things are easier to deal with? I’ll pick a week; just let me take a look at my calendar. Sorry to say that didn’t work and there I was sick in bed and not wanting to lift my head from the pillow much less parent or take care of a home! HOWEVER, the problem here was not that I was sick; the problem was the children were NOT. The children, in fact, all felt better than they had in months, there was snow on the ground and it was still falling and all they wanted was to play and have fun and not one of them wanted to do schoolwork, chores or anything else!
Though mommy was not feeling well and not wanting to budge, it still started off as any normal day, with children up and wanting FOOD NOW! Breakfast is easy; the children make it for themselves, so I thought I was safe. After breakfast its chore time and then home school. Now with mommy sick the children knew that meant NO SCHOOL and they thought that also went for chores and cleaning their rooms, and so it began……
“Mommy it’s snowing, can I go out and play?” “Um no, is your room clean? Are your chores done?” “No ma’am, but do I have to do them right now?” “Yes you do, or you will forget to come back and do them.” “I promise mommy I won’t forget PPPUUULLLEEEAAASSSE let me go outside and play in the snow for a little while? It is snowing really hard and I have never been out in a blizzard before.” (Okay so his idea of a blizzard was more than two or three snowflakes. I think there were maybe ten snowflakes falling at the same time.) But having to remain consistent I said, “NO! We have been through this before. When your bed is made, your room is straight and your chores are done you may go out and play while mommy is resting.” This went on for about five minutes until Mommy began to get angry, knowing we had come to the place where punishments begin, the asker went off to do his chores and straighten up his room, mumbling to himself the entire time. But did I care? No!
I laid back down only to hear a soft knock on my door, “Come in, Cora”, I said. Then I heard, “Mommy do you need anything?” “No I’m fine right now.” “Mommy are you going to be okay?” “Yes honey Mommy is just sick but I will be okay.” “Well just don’t die because then Daddy will be our mommy and he does not know how to cook like you do!” “Well okay I don’t intend to die today, so why don’t you ask the Lord to help mommy feel better.” To which we bowed our heads and this child began to ask the Lord to let me live a very long life or to please send someone to teach daddy how to cook something besides eggs, and cream of wheat!
With that taken care of I laid down once again, only to hear a louder knock on my door, Mari entered and said “Mommy, what do I feed Emma?” Now why this question struck me as funny I have no idea but all I could visualize was my baby girl, sitting and eating hay like the goats, but I said as patiently as I could, “Well Emma is not a baby anymore so why don’t you ask her what she wants for breakfast?” To which Mari informed still wondering why I was laughing, “I did and she said she wants a candy cane for breakfast.” “Well okay send her in here and I will see what I can do.” A few minutes later in walks my very precious 5 year old child that gets her stubbornness from who knows where and has the ability to drive an entire house of people out of their minds in 10.2 seconds! And yet she has a sweet loving nature, sweet smile gives huge hugs and kisses and has faith in God with abundant love. BUT today it was her stubborn side that we had to get past and with mommy sick, I did not feel like dealing with this.
“Emma, my love, mommy does not feel well so, you really need to tell Mari what you want to eat for breakfast so that she can fix it for you.” To which I was told with as much distain as a five year old can muster, “I told Mari, I want a candy cane for breakfast.” “Well, honey that is not breakfast and since mommy is home that will not work. How about cereal?” “Nope, candy cane.” “How about eggs?” “Nope, candy cane.” “Okay I have it, why don’t you have candy cane toast for breakfast?” “Hhhmmmm…Are you trying to trick me?” “Yes I am, but you will eat it or go to your room until you do.” “Okay, I’ll eat it, but I will be pretending it is a real candy cane while I am eating it!” And she stomped out of the room, making sure that I knew she was still getting her way even if it meant I got mine too.
I then instructed Mari to get out our candy cane cookie cutter and make some candy cane toast, to which Emma was so excited she ate four pieces, drank her milk and then even made her bed without a fuss. If only all of the problems in our house were this easy to fix.
Again I laid back down, got comfortable, and informed Rich that it was his turn to parent. I turned over, closed my eyes and tried to sleep; when came the sound, (A very odd sound) of someone crawling on the floor. I laid there for a moment, opened my eyes to look straight into the eyes of my 6 year old Cassie Joy. I tried not to scream, but there is nothing more startling than to open your eyes and a child’s nose, is nose-to-nose with yours. I took a deep breath and said, “Cassie honey you scared mommy to death.” “I didn’t mean to, but you don’t look dead.” “I didn’t say I was dead,” I said, “You scared me to death. Never mind what do you want honey?” “Mommy you have to come downstairs right now.” “Cassie, honey mommy is sick and I don’t feel like going all the way down stairs why do you need me too?” “It is a secret but you have to come downstairs RIGHT NOW!” If you have children then you know there are certain words or phrases that they can say and you instantly get fear in your heart. These were those words.
“Honey can Daddy come downstairs and see the secret?” “Nope. Only you can.” “Cassie Joy-Lynn I am going to ask you this one time and I want you to tell me the truth no playing, okay?” “Sure mommy what?” I sat up and struggled not to smile or frown at the same time, and asked “If I go downstairs, am I going to find something that will make me angry?” “NOPE HAPPY.” “Is it a big surprise?” “YES MA’AM IT IS A VERY BIG SURPRISE!”
So I dragged myself out of my bed and somehow followed this beautiful child with the corn silk hair, this child that looks like an angel but loves to put the fear of God into my heart. I followed her into my Mama’s room where I discovered that new baby kittens were in the process of entering our world. I guess for a six year old it was important enough for me to come down those stairs but as I stood there and watched the miracle of birth (for the one hundredth time, still a miracle but being sick not so much this time!) I thought, Lord I am so glad that you have joined our family together in your love. I am so proud of each child and their love for me and the rest of their family. BUT could they just for today not love me quite so much? LOL!!
The picture up top is of Cora's bedroom and her idea of clean! I love my children but neat is not in their vocabulary, not one tiny bit! LOL
God bless you all!
Rise'
Hope to see you in two weeks. Tuesday, April 3rd to be exact!
Wednesday's Blog: Michele, "Single Working Mom"
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