Lessons Remembered

There is nothing like a week in the trenches to remind one of where they came from.  And I got just had just such an adventure last week with a near four year old, a two year old and an 11 month old.  It was like a time warp - going back to when my three boys were roughly the same ages.  I rediscovered some things forgotten, and learned a few new wrinkles, too.

1.  Cheerios, the unsung hero of yet another generation.  Bless you!
2.  One of my favorite adages from my early motherhood days is this:  nothing makes a child more thirsty than to move their cup back from the edge of the table.  There is a corollary to that rule:  nothing makes a toy more desirable than putting it away, except, that is, seeing a discarded toy in your brother's hand.
3.  This leads to the next truism:  little boys can scream like little girls - loud, high and piercing.  You think you can ignore him and out last his efforts.  You cannot.
4.  Some babies HATE blow driers, well, one in particular - Elijah.  Fortunately, hair dries faster with a screaming child in the background - though certainly not fast enough.  The vacuum has the same affect on Sir Squirmy, not that I can blame him for that one.  I'm not particularly fond of that implement, either.
5.  Soon to be four-year-old's love to help, meaning every task will take
twice as long as it should.  However, there is no better way to increase the enjoyment of dusting, vacuuming (when Elijah is sleeping like the dead upstairs), and cleaning glass.  Bonus streaks in the glass make for beautiful sunsets.
6.  When throwing a ball, a two year old's directional compass is suspect.  This improves substantially sometime around age four.  However, the age at which he can successfully aim the contents of a container of water when playing in the pool develops much later in life.  Sometime after they hit double digits, maybe?  Cell phones beware.
7.  Baby tummies stretch to take in an amazing volume.  Visualize an 8 ounce bottle in a tummy that has already had lunch!  Sometimes it is necessary to relieve pressure with a burp.  Regardless of how loud, this is preferable to the liquid variety of release, which can, on occasion, reverse the entire digestive process.  This sad fact has not changed in the intervening 30 plus years since my babies were babies.  It is not any more cute now, even when the perpetrator smiles his most winning grin after the fact.

And finally, my favorite piece of new wisdom for generations to come:

8.  When a near four year old announces, "There he is!  Kill him!", he is probably talking about his aversion to flies.  Prudence dictates, however, that you lay eyes on each of his brothers post haste...

POSTSCRIPT:  Sisters Faith and Naomi were born last Tuesday afternoon weighing in at 1# 5 oz and 1# 4 oz, respectfully.  They are beautiful and impossibly tiny and intricate.  They are doing well for their size, but as you can imagine, there are many hurdles to overcome in the next few months.  Naomi, in particular is standing in the need of prayer this morning.

Updates are available at  http://www.carepages.com/carepages/FaithandNaomiHarris/.  Thank you for your prayers for their continued health and development.