She Gets Me

I rarely get a minute to sit and read something, but this morning - I found myself in the lazy boy while the boys were sitting and drinking their milk watching Lazy Town on Sprout... and I had a minute. I opened Facebook on my iPhone and there was an article recommended by 5 of my friends - so I figured that I needed to read it. I am SO glad I did! You need to go read it here - then come back...

I can't even tell you the number of times that I've had people tell me the same thing, "enjoy it - it goes so quickly!" My reaction - depending on the moment - is either a wish that I could sucker punch them in the throat OR a quick reflection of how much time has already gone by.

One thing is for sure - motherhood is a mine field. We've all heard the stories of what a mine field is like - where you're scared to take a step in any direction because you might trigger an explosion... oh yeah, that's exactly what my days are like. Do I move one step to the left and cause a toddler fit or do I step to the right and let them do what they want even though it might end in tears from a fall or accident?

One thing is for sure, most days - I too am just simply counting down the minutes until John gets home... or bedtime. It's a marathon that you can't truly prepare yourself for... and my marathon is different from most. I've got two of these boogers 6 months apart... so we're sort of in a never ending myriad of developmental issues. When one begins... I've pretty much got to get them both through it before we can move on. We can't really go out in public right now because I can't possibly keep them both safe and inline by myself. We just aren't the typical family.

A trip to the doctor's office creates a spectacle that I, myself, am not even prepared for. We walk in and the questions start from everyone in the waiting room... are they twins? No. They're 6 months apart. One is adopted.

Then it begins again - oh, what a blessing... you are so lucky. Yes, I know that - I really do... but it's not easy. I'm exhausted and pushed to my limits 90% of the day. I love these boys with everything I've got... but typical parenting advice doesn't exactly work here. If you've got one child, or they are separated by a year or two - your life is different from mine. Twin parents have a slight inkling of what this is like... but these kids work together to drive me completely nuts!

The author's concepts of time being in - Chronos: is time that we live in AND Kairos: God's time. This is where I find complete brilliance. Chronos is where you're standing in the middle of Target while your child is having a fit, and you're wishing that you were invisible. (or that you could beam them out and into their bed immediately!) Kairos is when things calm down, they've got their head on your shoulder - and you're just there listening to them breathe. (Why doesn't that time last forever?)

So this had me thinking... maybe it's time to sit down once a week and chronicle these Chronos and Kairos moments. Just to be able to look back and laugh at the craziness of real time - and the beauty of the supernatural. Who wants to join me?

Grab the image and join in... then link back to your post at the bottom of this one. You don't have to be a mother to have these moments - I think as women - we ALL have them!

Chronos Moments:

* Going to pick up James at MOPS to hear him crying from several rooms away
* Picking up Tyler from MOPS to find that I had only put extra pants in his bag - and that's the day he decided to spray "tee tee" all over everything he was wearing - so he was literally in the extra pants and his jacket... nothing else.
* Picking up the boys from MDO to hear that James only took a 5 minute nap the entire time
* Tyler reducing James to tears by hitting him in the head repeatedly with a puzzle piece
* Having to sleep on the twin bed in Tyler's room so that he would get some sleep
* Having about 5 more things on the "to do" list when it's time to go pick up the boys from school
* The 3 or so solid days of stomach virus plague that hit our house last weekend

Kairos Moments:
* Snuggling with Tyler to put him to bed
* Every single smile that James flashes my way... it's the happiest melt my heart smile on the planet!
* Seeing both of the boys light up when they spot me in the doorway of their classroom at school
* Being able to comfort a sick baby just by being there with him
* Finally seeing both boys start to catch on with using their fork
* Preparing 2 successful meals for the whole family (trying to get away from baby meal vs parent meal)

Next week, I'll try to have more - this is all I could come up with since I just got the idea today. What are your Chronos and Kairos moments from this week? Link back and let me know!