Love and the REST of the Day

I don't want to leave you all hanging on the edge thinking that everything continued to get worse after our stroller accident, but it kind of did. I put Micaiah down for a nap, worrying the entire time that if he did have a concussion, then sleeping isn't very good for that. However, Micaiah is fine and acting completely normal. So no worries! E and I "checked" my email. I have a stash of toys in my office for when I am working on sewing projects or need to blog, etc.

One awesome thing about this child, is that she can keep herself happy playing independently SO well! Great skill to have! After that, we had some lunch and Cai was back up. That's when things didn't go so well. AGAIN.

Our biggest problem between the two of them has been hitting. I was kind of at a loss of what to do about this behavior. My immediate course of action was separate them and do a time out in the crib saying WHY the time out occurred. This has been working the last few days, but today after several time outs in a row, I realized that time out was NOT working for this toddler anymore on this issue. I was getting so frazzled and just felt like yet again things had spun out of control. I especially didn't want any hitting with a bump on Cai's head, which makes me just feel like a true peach of a mom for allowing that to happen in the first place.

I realized we needed a distraction. The baby pool! GREAT idea! The one thing that has kept us happy this whole week is that we have gone swimming EVERY day with friends. After the stroller accident, I really didn't want to go out of the house, so I got us ready and we went swimming in our kiddie pool in the back yard. We were happy for awhile, but then the hitting issue came up again. We did a time out on the porch and I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood thought I was killing a kid!

I just started praying, "Lord, what am I supposed to do? Nothing is working. These time outs aren't working. She is just screaming! What would you do, Lord?"

We talked about not hitting and got back in the pool again. HIT! "Lord, show me what to do."   

"Show her how to love like I showed you how to love." Oh, THANK YOU LORD! 

I said to E, "Please don't hit Micaiah. Let's be sweet to each other the way God wants us to be sweet to each other. This is how you are sweet to Micaiah. (I took her hand and rubbed his head where she hit him and rubbed his arm.) Then, I asked her to be sweet to Nessa and she rubbed my head. Then, I asked her to be sweet to E. She rubbed her face.

A little while later.... HIT! This time I was prepared. "E, do NOT hit! Be sweet to Micaiah. (Rub.) Be sweet to Nessa. (Rub, Rub!) Be sweet to E." She rubbed us all on the head.

Isn't that the way it always is? We have to be shown how to love before we love. It doesn't come naturally, if it did, we wouldn't have to work at loving others so much.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 

 I John 4:7-12