Wednesday, July 18, 2007

speak no evil


Today I woke up with a pounding headache...you know, the kind that starts at the bottom of your back, works your way all the way up your neck, feels like somebody has tightened your shoulder muscles to the point that they are attached to your ears, and you can only open your eyes a tiny bit, because they too are throbbing? Oh, and don't forget that if you turn your head too fast you feel like you might vomit. Yeah, that kind...

So I got up, took some ibuprofen, got the kids breakfast, put the roast in the oven for our company tonight, changed Luke's diaper and asked everybody to go outside and play for a bit (under Kaitlyn's responsible supervision) so I could soak in a hot tub for a while to see if I could shake this nagging aching. All was ok until I been in for a good 5 minutes, then it seemed that all manner of chaos broke loose. Apparently the children had forgotten to unlock the door on their way out...so first I heard pounding on the downstairs door, then the side door, and shortly after the front doorbell was ringing. I grabbed my towel and went to the side door (dripping wet) and unlocked it, yelling from inside to come around to the side and quickly hurried back to the tub. No sooner had I got back in and the screaming began. In my utter frustration and physical pain as I jumped back out of the tub, I (very uncharacteristically) yelled "Oh my God!"

Now please understand - this is something we NEVER say in our house...in fact, it's a serious offense, and the kids all know this. Todd & I never said it growing up, so it's not like it was something we had to 'catch' ourselves to keep from saying in front of the kids...we truly never said it. But today, in that moment, I said it - (and the rest of what was unsaid, in my mind was "...keep me from killing these kids!!!". Not literally, of course, it was just one of those 'mom' moments when you think you really might just go off the deep end).

Anyway, Bryce witnessed this whole thing (he was the first one banging on the door to get in). He stood by silently as I dealt with the pinched fingers of his brother (the cause of the screaming)and then quietly stood outside bathroom door, once I returned to the tub yet again, and said "Mom, you need to say sorry to God." Then he went back outside. Immediately I knew he was right, and I did talk to my Father about the whole morning scenario.

Later tonight I talked with Bryce about how what I said was inappropriate, and that I was sorry I said it. I told him that he was right, not only is it not right for him to say that, it's not right for me either. Needless to say, it was humbling.

My headache did eventually finally go away and we had a fun evening with our company. But this is a morning I probably won't forget for a while...not because of the killer headache, but because of being brought up short by the wisdom of my 7 year old, who himself is learning the fear of the Lord.

3 comments:

Bets said...

Ok, tho I certainly can relate to that kind of "mom moment" very well.... gotta say that the good "mom moment" of realizing how Bryce is learning and maturing had to way outweigh that!!!

Bets said...

Ok, tho I certainly can relate to that kind of "mom moment" very well.... gotta say that the good "mom moment" of realizing how Bryce is learning and maturing had to way outweigh that!!!

Zoanna said...

Out of the mouths of babes! I also grew up not saying OMG and I can't stand it. The few times I've blurted on HIs name in vain I have felt SO ashamed and sorry. Can't stand it when ppl fling taht phrase around. Yesterday my lil Joel figured out something on the computer that stumped me adn I said,"Joel, are you gonna be a geek like Stephen?" He said, "Don't say that. It might offend some people." "Geek?" I said, "That's a good thing. Means you are really smart with computers." He was skeptical of my defense adn said, "I AM good at computers, but I'm NOT a geek. And neither is Stephen." hehehehe