What they teach us about them.

Have you ever had an ah-ha moment where that light bulb can actually be seen hovering over your head and there is a definite DING! DING! DING! going off in your brain. If you haven't guessed I recently had one. As I have said before, Javin is a 2 year old, with all the fits and limit pushing that are part and parcel with the age. To be honest, I have been at my wits end many a time. You know what I'm talking about,the place where you are so angry with the child you are yanking your own hair and looking for a some what soft object on which to bang your head to avoid doing something rash.
Javin has begun pouring our his drinks and food on the table and using them as his medium with which to create masterpieces. Only they always get out of hand and end up on the table,the floor, the walls, his clothes and all to often me. In the not too distant past I would get angry raise my voice and put him in time out. That technique just didn't work. He could truly care less if he was made to sit somewhere by himself. He would sit there and yell NO! at me as he stomped his foot. Then one day, a day when the Lord truly was with me and giving me inspiration, he made one of these beautiful messes, and my first reaction was not an explosion of mommy frustration. I calmly said "oh what a lovely mess. Look at how the colors mesh with each other, but I think it is time to get a wipe and clean it up."
Now here is where my miracle happened. He didn't yell at me, he didn't stomp his foot or even run away. He went and found the nearest box of wipes and brought them to me. I pulled out one and he followed suit. We then proceeded to clean together. He giggled when some of the slop dribbled off the table when pushed with the wipe. He even wanted to be the one to put the used up wipes in the trash can. That was just fine by me, I want him to learn that taking out the trash is a "man thing" anyway. Sure the whole process took ten times as long with his help,but it was so worth it. In the end we were both happy and neither of us were searching for that perfect object on which to bang our heads.
Life is a bit easier since I had that particular ah-ha. I suppose THAT is a big part of life, one ah-ha after another until we have figured it out and are truly on the straight and narrow and holding firmly to that iron rod.