Our darling Cat

This morning was a bit crazy in the Howell household. It's "swim day" and that means I have to dig things out of the closet that haven't been used in a few months: towels, suits, wraps, etc. With the alarm set for five, and a knock on our bedroom door well past that ("Dada - it's 6:33...are we getting up?") I was a bit frazzled. Once we finally got everything together, battled the monsoon to get to our cars only to remember my laptop, purse and workout bag were in the truck - re-battled the monsoon, got kisses and put the car in "DRIVE", I was toast. My patience was shot and though my intention was to make sure my kids had a great morning, I found that I was unraveling.
Just as I was taking a deep soothing breath in, Caitlin decided to tattle.

I don't do tattle very well.

"Mom... Is Molly allowed to have her foot right there?"

And then - it happened. Have you ever done this?... With the exhale of my soothing breath - this came out:

"Dear SWEET JESUS IN HEAVEN........ PLEASE give me the PATIENCE this morning to deal with my CHILDREN, who want to find CLEVER ways to TATTLE on each other! LORD - PLEASE just let me get through this time! IN JESUS NAME......AMEN"

Have you ever yelled a prayer to the Lord in front of your children? Am I the only insane mama on the planet?
I thought that would be subtle enough to get Caitlin to STOP tattling on her sister. Who - for the love of all that is precious - only had her foot in a questionable place. This wasn't a personal safety issue, no one was bleeding... no names or ugly faces had been cast....no. This was simply the case of the mis-placed foot.

Goodness.

So - confidant that I had won this little battle I said "I'm sorry, Caitlin. Did you need something?"

To which my sweet angel replied "Uh, yeah - is Molly allowed to put her foot right there?"

AHHHH!!!!!

You'd be proud of me though. I didn't freak out. I didn't snap. I didn't fly off the handle and beat her. I didn't even "turn this car right around" or
"pull over".

I simply said "Caitlin...is it your foot?"

"No"

"Okay. Then - just let it go and worry about yourself."

Was it the right thing? Probably not. Was it the only sane thing I could think to say that didn't involve curse words? Yes.

And I do pray that Sweet Precious Jesus will give me the patience I need to be the mother He wants me to be. Because I know without His help, I would surely eat my own young.

Isn't it a bit ironic that I just posted something about how I want to be home with my family all the time?

Until then...