Brian had a tough day at work so after dinner I sent him to the gym and I did bath time alone. I bathed Gray, rocked him and gave him his bottle and then was enjoying rocking him with him on my shoulder. I was feeling a little sorry for myself over stupid things and didn't realize that I didn't hear Ruth anymore in her room playing.
I quickly put Grayson down thinking, "crap, how long has it been since I last heard Ruth? What is she into?" I did a quick glance in her room to notice that she was indeed no longer in there. This could only mean she was one other place: my bathroom.
Sure enough, a short walk to my bathroom revealed Ruth sitting on the floor in front of the tub, the step to the tub covered in a pink gel, gel all over Ruth's arms and legs and gel running onto the floor. What was this gel? An ENTIRE bottle of 2 in 1 Sauve Berry Shampoo for Kids.
Talk about being mad. I took off her shirt and put her in the bath tub (with panties now around her knees) and told her not to move. I ran downstairs to get something and when I came back Ruth was crying. Of course, she moved. She had taken off her panties and had gotten shampoo in a bad place and was crying. I was mad again. I started the bath water, put towels over the mess until I could clean it up after bath and took a big breath. As water began filling up the tub bubbles began to form due to the large amounts of shampoo in the tub and on Ruth. Ruth was amazed and began to enjoy herself.
A was placed in my mind from the book True Faced about how God loves us no matter what and only wants us to listen to Him so we won't get hurt. Like I wanted Ruth to listen to me so she wouldn't get shampoo in a bad place (or have touched the shampoo in the first place - I have told her enough times). But the reality is that we don't have to work on our sins or be good enough for God to love us or be close to us. He loves us anyway.
So, to show that love to Ruth and to show grace to myself, I took off my clothes and got in the bath with Ruth and we had a great and wonderful bubble bath.
I am actually in bed with her right now. She is having a hard time being alone this week so I decided to stay with her until she falls asleep. She is supposed to be closing her eyes. I know you are thinking the computer is keeping her up but she has gone to sleep with the computer many times. Besides, I have a pillow blocking the light.
So tomorrow (or today) when you find the shampoo in your life all over the floor, enjoy the bubbles that are made when you try to clean up the mess.
Thank you, Natalie. That will probably be a moment that she will remember FOREVER! And, it definitely inspired me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder. Too often I find myself in a similar situation...frustrated at Eston because he isn't behaving perfectly. I try to remind myself that he is only 3! Also to count my blessings that he has the ability to get in to the mess he's made. Thankful that he has no physical limitations and an inquisitive mind!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great realization. I got a wonderful email the other day about the 90/10 philosophy. Only 10% of what happens to us is out of our control, the other 90% of what happens is how we react to the initial problem. You could have gotten really upset and it would have ruined your entire evening & Ruth would have been upset as well. Instead you turned it into a special time for the two of you to spend time together. That really is awesome!
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