Carpe Diem

A friend and I were laughing the other day about how it's kinda annoying to be bombarded so constantly with the message of "being present" whilst engaged in mothering young children. Sometimes I feel like my present-ness is precisely the problem (I'm thinking of an incident that occurred 52 minutes ago involving the 5 year old, a cookie, and a very long time-out). This article from the Huffington Post has been making the rounds and I thought it was spot-on. Kairos is a word and concept I hope to remember.

But that being said, I do appreciate the occasional gentle reminders I periodically encounter that help me to embrace the very worst moments within this time of my life (which to clarify, I am enjoying :) ). My cousin Emily sent me a copy of an adorable children's book, Oscar, which describes a bunch of bad and true things the author Amber Tayler's son did - like burying her jewels in the backyard during a game of pirate (so bad) and pouring milk in the grandma's purse (again, so bad). The book is told from the child's perspective and after describing the awful thing he's so innocently done, he follows up with statements like "I had to remind Mom to use her quiet voice" and "I had to remind mom we should love all of God's creatures." So cute and if you think about it very touching.*

What have been your worst parenting moments, a la Oscar? I never tire of hearing the naughty things little ones do.

*when the child is over the age of 7! :)