Things I Learned During My Stint as a Single Mom

I watched my friend’s three delightful children while she and her husband were away at a marriage retreat this weekend.  I learned a lot–especially about myself!  Here’s a sample:

1.  A large german shepherd, two running children, and myself cannot all fit through a doorway at once.  When I try to fit, I lose my balance and run into cupboards, spilling bath salts all over the floor.

2.  It is nearly impossible to keep small children from trying to eat the said same bath salts while trying to clean them up.  They’re so pretty and purple and look like candy.  Non-toxic “candy”, I hope.  : )

3.  I am not as patient a person as I thought I was….

4.  …but the Lord gives LOTS of grace!!!

5.  It is nearly impossible to get three children bathed, dressed, and out the door in two hours.  Who knew?

6.  I love nap time.

7.  The weekend was easier than I thought in a lot of ways–early bedtimes and long naptimes helped with this…but was challenging for me as I realized that there is very little room for selfishness and impatience when caring for children 24/7!

8.  I really, really like doing homemaking-ish stuff.  I wish I could do it more.

9.  Play-dough is our friend.  Although, pink play-dough is hard to remove off of jeans after one small three year old intentionally sits on her play-dough to squish it down better.

10.  7:15 am snuggles with a just-woke-up but still sleepy three year old provide for priceless moments.

11.  Showering while trying to supervise a 15 month old is also nearly impossible.

12.  I LOVE little kid questions about things–they’re so refreshingly blunt!  (i.e. ‘Miss Kristi, where is your husband?’ [I don’t have one, David]. ‘Oh.’ [Next day]  ‘Miss Kristi, why don’t you have a husband?’)

13.  I also love how kids get excited about mundane things–like a dead ladybug or a garbage truck passing by.

14.  One cannot get a five year old boy to temporarily put on his sister’s pink mittens to pick up some snow.  Because, “Well….(long pause while he thinks very hard)….Miss Kristi boys aren’t supposed to wear pink!” I should have known better than to even try.  🙂

15.  The Lord is indeed very, very faithful–and gives us so much joy.

---