Gift Tag: Harmony and the Art of Brushing Teeth

The other day while I was making myself presentable to the outside world, I was privy to a little accidental dose of two-part harmony. Hub was in the bathroom brushing Squiggle’s teeth–an experience always ripe for chuckles. Squiggle is the kind of guy who picks up his honey mustard condiment cup to drink it.  I kid you not. He wants catsup on his plate so he can attempt to pick it up with his fork and eat it sans french fries, despite numerous attempts to offer a better solution. Pancakes translates as syrup and syrup with a side of bacon to Squig. I’m sure you’re getting the pattern here. He tends to have his own ideas about how things ought to be done. I wonder where he got that?

So, here’s how the two-part harmony normally plays out: a grown-up “aaah” paired with a Squig-sized “aaah” when we’re brushing the back teeth, and a grown-up “eeee” paired with a Squig-size when taking care of the front. Oddly enough, they’re almost always in near harmonious pitch. In this rendition, however, Daddy’s “aaah” was met with Squiggle’s much louder “eeee.” And vice versa. Several times. Squig was having way too much fun making his own sound to hear Daddy’s instructions.

Don’t you hate it when that happens? Sometimes I’m just too busy making my own melody to hear the right note.  Hub and I have noticed an increased harmony in our hearts and lives recently because we are finally getting on the same page with God in a few areas.  Home responsibilities, work schedules, parenting styles, church commitments, family time–we’re finally letting go of the “eeee” to embrace the “aaah” first. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a huge overhaul, just a few little things (and mindsets) to start with that are making a big difference. It’s a good feeling.

Sometimes, like Squig, we want to do what God wants.  We’re on board with brushing our teeth.  It’s just a matter of who’s doing the brushing.  We want to call the shots.  So, maybe our intentions and desires are correct, but we need to yield to the one with the brush to achieve harmony and get there.  I find when I surrender the act of calling the shots, when I go with God for the “aaah” first, the “eeee” usually falls into place as I’d hoped. Maybe it’s not the path I would have taken, but the destination is the same and the ride was full of a lot more laughter and contentment… and harmony.

Well, they got the job done. When Hub finally got his attention, Squig was happy to join Daddy in the “aaah,” and impromptu two-part harmony was restored. Music to my ears. I got up from my seat with makeup fixed and this:

Harmony has a source and an order.  I can’t achieve it until I go to the source and submit to the proper heart hygiene.

Gift Tags are the tiny messages God continues to include with our gifts — 2 little joys of boys and 1 little jewel of a girl, each with open eyes, open ears, open hearts, and much to teach. “Behold children are a gift of the Lord…” (psalm 127:1)

The Tiniest Turning

Last week Little Drummer Boy lied to me about getting in trouble at school. He knew he lied, and he knew that I knew he lied. He cried about everything but that lie during the early evening.  When I asked him again if he’d gotten in trouble, he told me the truth. And, he was able to eventually tell me what happened.  The “trouble” was not an earth-shattering thing, just the consequences of speaking words he didn’t fully understand. I assured him that I was not going to spank him, that I would only spank him if he lied to me, if he did not tell me the truth. For me, the issue was over. Only a small reminder that “I’m counting on you to obey your teachers” remained, and was reserved for the next morning’s goodbye hug and kiss.

Later, just before bathtime during our nightly family prayer, he resolved the whole experience in his own spirit. He came to give me an unsolicited hug:

LDB: “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

Mommy: “It’s ok.”

LDB: “Please forgive me, Mommy.”

Mommy: “I will. I forgive you. It’s ok. I love you, sweet.”

He looked me straight in the eye the whole time he said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness.  A parent can see a sincere heart. It was so easy to forgive him, second nature–the impulse to draw him into my arms, to give him total restoration, to lay aside his guilt, to let him know his guilt was laid aside. To forget it and move on as if it never happened.

The forgiveness between a parent and her child comes easy at this age, with open eyes and open hearts staring at you, with new words and new concepts spoken in sincerity. I imagine it would easy at any age, I’m just not there yet. Right now, it’s effortless. How often we forget that ease at other times with other people.  But, with a beloved child, a tiny repentant heart laid bare, disappointment is forgotten, grievances assauged, correction laid aside.  Forgiveness is freely, quickly and gladly given–along with a full-hearted, open-armed embrace.

The forgiveness of God is such with His beloved creation, those whom He has knit and molded and labored. He sees the sincerity of heart, even when we can’t adequately express it. At the moment of our asking, He stands ready–no, runs ready–to embrace, to lay sin aside, to absolve and restore. At the moment of our asking, it’s already done. There is no payback, no process of forgiveness, no 12 steps, no tentative trusting of motives. God, in His all-powerful knowing of us, asks nothing more than to ask. He is sensitive to the tiniest turning of our hearts toward Him. He leaps at the chance to love at the slightest provocation.  Just as easy as it was to restore and embrace my son, His eagerness is barely contained.

Why do I shy away? Why do I resist His presence? His love embraces, ever steadied against the push of my resistance. Like the times I beg a busy or reluctant son to sit in my lap only to watch him melt into my arms as he finally gives in to hearing Mommy say how much love he deserves, how much love he has, how much pride he brings forth. Then, to see him bask in the security of that moment.  Why do I resist? Why do I shy away?

Gift Tags are the tiny messages God continues to include with our gifts — 2 little joys of boys and 1 little jewel of a girl, each with open eyes, open ears, open hearts, and much to teach. “Behold children are a gift of the Lord…” (psalm 127:1)

Gift Tag: All Over Us

As you may have read, I’ve opted for a theme word for 2009 rather than a set of resolutions. In my pursuit of harmony, the word that chose me, I’ve been prompted by some conversations this week to consider this question: How do you achieve harmony between folks who don’t agree? Different people with differing view points–not just life circumstances, but life choices and priorities and beliefs. Is it really possible to agree to disagree? Can friendship occur in that situation? Can harmony? Building relationships with like-minded pals is pretty easy. But, building and nurturing relationships with the unlike-minded is advanced harmony. It’s harmony coursework at the 5000 level. You have to want it, because harmonizing at that level takes some work.

As is often the case, Little Drummer Boy inadvertently taught me something. He reminded me that true harmony with my fellow man, woman and child has a ground rule. And, the lesson came in another episode of the “doo doo chronicles.”

Last week I was sitting at the dressing table in my bedroom trying to minimize the look of not enough sleep so as not to frighten any Saturday morning fellow grocery shoppers. Hub had been supervising while Squiggle and Little Drummer Boy watched a movie and Baby Girl watched Squiggle and Little Drummer Boy. It had given me the opportunity to grab a quick shower before morning errands, and I’d vacated the bathroom just in time for LDB’s second cup of juice to convince him it was “tee-tee” time.

His jaunt in the bathroom was suspiciously long, and I vaguely remember that no flushing sound preceded him bounding out of the door on the way to not missing any more of his movie. As I glanced down the hall between eye liner and blush, I caught him in a hurried shuffle with the back side of his Thomas the Train underwear in plain view and his blue jeans down around his ankles. How I love the innocence of a just-shy-of-four-year old’s utter disregard of pants down around the ankles, but… Cue concern: There are still a few finer points of potty ettiquette we haven’t covered yet–at least we haven’t covered them convincingly enough. And, no time like the present.

Mommy: “Sweetie, we don’t need to come out of the bathroom with our pants down.”
LDB: “Why?” [I love that boy]
Mommy: “Because it’s not modest.”
LDB: Quizzical look.
Mommy: “That means we need to cover ourselves.”
LDB: “Yeah, so we don’t show anyone our knees.” [If only. I'll remember that one for Baby Girl.]
Mommy: “Well, it’s ok for people to see our knees, but we don’t want to show anyone our bottom-boo.”
LDB: “Yes. Because if we doo-doo on them, it will get all over us.”

Righhhht. My insistence that Little Drummer Boy pull his pants up before going one step further was punctuated by giggles and reflection. Harmony in relationships does indeed have a baseline, a ground rule, reiterated in a hundred different refrains of the same tune.

What goes around comes around. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. “Whatever a man sows, this will he also reap.” (galatians 6:7)

So often that verse is used as a weapon, an accusation against the “opposition.” But, “if we doo-doo on them, it will get all over us.” It’s the basic principle of life God created and set in motion: you get what you give. When I give peace, when I give love, when I give hope, I can much more easily recognize it in others around me. I can’t make someone’s choices for him, but I can choose to extend love and peace and joy and hope. Harmony isn’t about agreeing. Harmony is about finding the common ground and the largeness of spirit to give what I want to receive. So, I’m thinking our doo-doo is best put in the potty, lest it get all over us.

Gift Tags are the tiny messages God continues to include with our gifts — 2 little joys of boys and 1 little jewel of a girl, each with open eyes, open ears, open hearts, and much to teach. “Behold children are a gift of the Lord…” (psalm 127:1)

Gift Tag: Cars, Rain and Manna

From Little Drummer Boy’s first driving to daycare “Good Morning Prayer” of 2009:

Dear God
Thank you for today.
Thank you for the sunshine [although it's cloudy/drizzly today] and everything You have made.
Thank you for the cars that drive [in response to Squiggle's insistence that we look for a bus going by?]
and the rain that pours
and the drops that pour
and manna…

I didn’t catch the rest because I was scrambling in my purse (while navigating the green arrow light) for a pen to write down the words of wisdom from my 3 1/2 year old…

Cars. Thank You, God, for the vehicles you park before us to get us to the place you want us to be. Thank You that You’ve continually kept the engine running on your plan while we go back in to take care of this and that.

Rain. Thank You, God, for the downpours that wash away the excess and the unnecessary–the stacked up clutter of our lives and spirits that slows us down as we get to where you want us to be. Thank You for nourishment disguised as storms, inducing the growth needed to put down roots where you want us to be.

Manna. Thank You, God, for shining the light on this day’s provision, this day’s step toward where you want us to be.  Thank You that enough is sweet like honey and ripe for savoring.  Thank You that though we are not yet where You want us to be, Your provision in the wandering is steadfast.

And, thank You for the countless bedtime Bible stories that have incorporated “manna” into my baby’s vocabulary. Thank You for for the sponge-like stage that calls such a word to his mind unexpectedly.  Thank You for the innocence found in the unlikeliest of teachers.

Gift Tags are the tiny messages God continues to include with our gifts — 2 little joys of boys and 1 little jewel of a girl, each with open eyes, open ears, open hearts, and much to teach. “Behold children are a gift of the Lord…” (psalm 127:1)

Gift Tag: Lessons in Dignity

We are entrenched in potty training at my house these days.  And, let me tell you:  Nothing can make both Mommy and little boy slam dance between tears and giggles quite like a little “tee tee” and “doo doo” time.  Who knew that pull-ups and their contents would become such acceptable dinner conversation topics?  Red suckers, the promise of a Tigger movie, Elmo and Thomas the Train “big boy underwear” and some irrational cheering and possible dancing — these are the tools of the potty trade!  Yes, we are all sharing in the pride of my 3 1/2 year-old’s excited “I put my ‘tee tee’ in the potty!”

Little Drummer Boy was slow to try out the “big potty,” slow to look at the “big potty,” slow to hear us even mention the “big potty.”  He was perfectly content to go on about his business until his pull-ups were completely full and leaking.  We knew that once he overcame the hurdle of just trying it, his “training phase” would be done.  He would be an accident-free expert.  That’s just how he does things.  And, that’s pretty much how it was with his “tee tee.”

“Doo doo” is another story.

LDB has always been the more modest of my two boys, especially about his “dirty britches.”  He’s also the one who is most resistant to change in his routine and way of doing things.  Those qualities have made for a longer “doo doo” training time, and one prone to accidents.  Several times over the past few weeks, Little Drummer Boy has made himself scarce when the urge hit, and Mommy’s searching has turned up toddler tears and full underwear.  He seems to have taken to heart our instruction that “doo doo is a private thing!”  So, I try to stay on the look out for a missing 3-year-old.

Last week, a “Don’t come in here, Mommy” was the tell-tale sign that another chapter in the “doo doo” chronicles was imminent.  It came just after little brother Squiggle had finished his bath–step one in the one-two punch of our nightly bath/bedtime rituals.  With Mommy and Daddy tag-teaming the process and everyone tired from the day, I’m sad to say that we are sometimes not our best selves during the bath and bed hour. This night we had “doo doo” in the britches, “tee tee” on the pants, tears in Little Drummer Boy’s eyes and impatience in Mommy’s attitude to contend with–all in the 10-minute space before bath time.  It wasn’t one of my proudest moments, to say the least.

I took off LDB’s shoes, socks and pants, and cleaned him up, all the while nagging about the finer points of letting Mommy know when you “need to doo doo.”  I knew Hub was about to get LDB’s bath ready, so despite tears, I convinced him that we did not need to put his shoes back on.  Amidst many “no”s and “but, I NEED to put my pants on,” I also coerced him to walk back to his room (without anything covering his “bottom-boo”) to get a pull up.  With Little Drummer Boy’s concern growing and my patience dwindling, I had the brilliant idea that he could just stand there and wait a few minutes for Daddy to get the bath going — no wasted pull-up, no wasted pants, no wasted time.  Obviously, I hadn’t been listening.  There, with hands over his eyes and tears welling up, my Little Drummer Boy revealed his heart and got my attention.

“I don’t want to stand here (sob)… with no pants on.”

It was the voice of frustration and hurt.  It was the cry of having obeyed despite his own little personal cost.  Then, I knew.  I had taken his dignity.  For my own convenience.  And, it broke my heart.  I had made my sweet, modest baby boy walk from the bathroom to his room and stand there–half naked and exposed–in full view of Daddy and his brother while I lectured him on what he really “needed to do” when he had “doo doo.”  I had shown him complete and total disrespect as a person.  Yes, a quick look in the internal mirror proved that “doo doo” was the least stinky thing in the room at that moment.  I immediately got a clean pull-up and tried to soothe his spirit.

I’ve struggled over the last few days to understand why the experience affected me so much.  It was one of those moments that happen a hundred times in a week when we reason, cajole or scold to get something accomplished in a home with two toddlers and a baby.  LDB was over it almost immediately and on to more fun things.  But, I sat down and cried.  It was profoundly sad to me on several levels.

I was sad because Little Drummer Boy knew he was naked.  He knew he was exposed, and he was self-conscious about it.  It wasn’t the first time, I know, but it was another sign of growing up.  Somehow, without me realizing it, he had lost a little more of his innocence, the carefree freedom of being unaware.  And, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they realized they were naked, he felt the desire to be covered.  His heart cry reminded me again that things are not as they really should be, as God made them to be.  As beautiful and as loving as my beloved children are, they are still dirty without God.  And, I want them to know Him.

I was sad because I saw my own selfishness.  I had allowed my own schedule to prevail.  I was ashamed that my Little Drummer Boy had to shout his heart’s cry to be heard above MY voice.

I was sad because I valued something worthless over what is priceless.  I had focused on the inconvenience of dirtying another pair of pants rather than on nurturing a confident respect in his body and spirit.  In the zeal to train him, I overlooked an opportunity to affirm his modest attitude, something highly rare these days.

I was sad because I exposed him instead of covering him.  Something I thought I would never intentionally do to another human, I had done to my own child.  I had taken his dignity.  My first reaction should have been to cover –to shield and protect in the most intimate way as God did in that first Garden.  The mark of love is that it covers.  I want that to characterize my home.

We sometimes have the mistaken impression that children don’t need the same covering grown-ups do.  Sure, we cover their toes at bedtime and their ears at play time.  But, we often leave their heart desires exposed, assuming somehow that their feelings may not be as valid because they are young and immature.  I’ve realized how often I forget to show due respect to the baby people in my house simply because they are children.  Too often, I talk about them like they are not in the room, just because they may not understand the words.  Too often, I discuss one’s shortcomings while the other may be listening.  Too often, I ignore their concerns in favor of what works for me because I’m the adult.

Dignity and respect are rare commodities in our culture today.  Once lost, they are often hard to get back.  The latest episode in our “doo doo” chronicles was a valued lesson in protecting the baby humans under my care.  I want to so infuse my children’s lives with dignity–with respect and worth–that they know how to recognize it, desire to emulate it and strive to give it to others.

“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 peter 4:8)

Gift Tags are the tiny messages God continues to include with our gifts — 2 little joys of boys and 1 little jewel of a girl, each with open eyes, open ears, open hearts, and much to teach. “Behold children are a gift of the Lord…” (psalm 127:1)