So, our house looks like a construction site these days. Because IT IS. We are building a deck, a patio and front steps right now. There is heavy machinery in the garage. Huge piles of patio pavers and thinga-magigy-hoosies (tools) laying around in the yard. There are shovels, tractors, holes, boards, saws, sand and gravel piles. Does it keep us inside? Heck no. We play right in the midst of it. And they LOVE it. Tractors fill their dreams at night. And a dirty bum is their favorite look.
Today, we were playing outside. I looked down for one moment, and then back up again... and they were gone. I just about puked and ran around the house to find them right around the corner playing in a pile of sand. Sand that Papa and Dada need for the patio. I gave them the "not impressed" look and said that they needed to come back over near Momma. I added that Dada and Papa needed the dirt to stay in the pile (as opposed to being chucked across the lawn because it felt cool to chuck it). They both stared at me, with the look of: "I know exactly what you are saying and I'm thinking to myself whether or not I should listen to you." And sure enough... they BOTH got up off their dirty bums and walked over to a pile of dirt that was closer to mom. Dirt that Papa and Dada didn't need in a pile. I was proud of them. I tapped them on their little curly-cu heads.
Now, my boys are turning 2 in just a couple months. So, for the past few months/year... they have been gaining their independence. For a couple of months.... they did not listen WHAT-SO-EVER when I told them, "Don't touch that." It is part of their nature to test the limits. We all had to. We all learn like that. But day by day, through a growing trust, a learning trust, they are listening, and watching and following a direction that is not of their own. But it takes time.
So I was thinking of how awful and precious time is. It's awful to have to wait for something. Yet it's precious what that "waiting time" brings to a relationship. Time brings trust, doesn't it? You can't have it automatically. You can never rush it. You have to wait for it. Raising children is like a long waltz of trust, I believe. Every couple days they "reach" a new stage... and they push those limits... and then they trust. And then they push. And then they trust. But in order to trust, they need you to be trustworthy. So, I'm gonna give it everything I've got to be so. And just like them, I'm sure I'm going to test the limits and push and then learn to follow something other than myself.
