"You Learn Something New Every Day"

You know that phrase "You Learn Something New Every Day"?  Well, that is totally true for me.  As I was waiting for my son to find his shoes this morning before we walked out the door, I jotted down five things that I have learned lately.

#1.  You get a lot more done when you are dressed for the day.  A friend from church once told me that you should ALWAYS get up in the morning, get ready and get dressed to your shoelaces (flip flops or wedges in my case!)  I found this to be very true this morning.  I generally get up and spend a couple of hours picking up the house, doing laundry, and hum-hoeing (is that a word???) around while still in my Jammie's.  Not this morning.  The kiddos both had doctors appointments to get to.  I got up, bathed, got dressed to my flip-flops and started my day.  Okay, so I seriously don't know if I really got much more done because I was dressed for the day, but I sure looked a lot better doing my housework and I felt lots better about myself too.  As an added plus-if someone unexpectedly pops in, you don't have to dive under the dining room table and hide so that they think that you aren't home.  You are dressed, make-up on, hair fixed and ready to go...Yikes, does it sound like I've hidden from unexpected guests before???
#2.  It's not the Quantity of friends that you have, it's the Quality!  I LOVE my friends.  I spend a lot of time with them. God has truly blessed me with Amazing friends!  My friends stand beside me.  They stick up for me.  They have my back.  They laugh with me, cry with me and tell me that I look skinny when it is very evident that I have over indulged on fried okra or cheesecake! I have come to realize that friends will come and go-your true friends stand beside you through it all...they love you no matter what.  After all, the Bible says "a friend loves at ALL times".  I don't need a bunch of friends.  I've got my handful...and they are the real deal!
#3.  I am NOT Superwoman!  God wants me to be a GOOD mom.  Taking on too much gets in the way of that.  I was having a Bipolar meltdown (see my previous post to get what I mean by this) the other day because I was taking on WAY TOO MUCH.  I was trying to keep the house clean, teach Makenna to ride her bike, do laundry, get preschool letters addressed AND I had a bunch of neighborhood kids playing in our house.  I thought I was going to go crazy.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that I was on the verge of being hauled off to the insane asylum when my dear friend  saved the day by informing me that I am not Superwoman.  Obviously I am completely aware that I am not superwoman, but I needed someone else to tell me so.  God does not expect perfection out of me.  He expects me to be good at my job.  To give it my all.  And most importantly, He wants me to come to Him when I need help...because, after all, I can't do this alone!
#4.  I will NEVER have a peaceful moment in the bathroom!  A few days ago, my children, bless them, were laying on the couch, all snuggled in blankets watching tv.  Neither of them spoke a word to me during the the time that I was eating my breakfast on the couch all snuggled up with them.  I decided to sneak into the bathroom to take a bath-Sneak being the key word!  I quietly closed the bathroom door, turned the bath water on, stepped in to the tub and closed the shower curtain when the bathroom door flies open.  "MOMMMMMMM, where are my shoes?" Hunter asks.  Why in this very world does the kid need his shoes when he is still in his underwear???  I tell him to go check by the front door.  Then, ten seconds later, "MOMMMMMM, I can't find any shorts!"  "Check your dresser", I tell him.  Next, I hear little tiny feet tap, tap, tapping on the outside of the door.  I try to ignore it, but the tapping just gets louder and it's not so much a tap anymore, it's more like a stomp.  I get out out of the bathtub, drip across the bathroom floor and open the door.  My little rag-a-muffin is laying by the door with a very mischievous smile, "can Masen spend the night" she says.  I smile back and say "not tonight", close the door and get back in the tub.  She then knocks on the door, say's "Can I come in, it's Makenna.  I have to go potty".  I tell her to come on in.  She goes potty and then informs me that she is just going to hang out in the bathroom and keep me company.  So much for peacefulness-that will all come when I am fifty or sixty.  For now, I wouldn't trade these two bath invading, high-maintenance, yacky kiddos for the quietest bathroom in the world!
#5.  Eating Beans for FOUR meals in a row is NOT a good idea...Enough Said!