Cue foreboding music!
Halfway through my peaceful shower my husband, Jay, came into the bathroom. It turns out that when he took our dog out to do her "business", he stepped in her "business" from the previous day that one of our dear children failed to clean up. The bad news was that he didn't figure out this problem for about half an hour and he walked all over the house with his shoes on! The good news is that because there were so many leaves on the ground, it appears that the only affected area was right by our sliders. "But", he said, "you should probably wash all the floors later on today just in case." (sigh..another big item added to my to do list for the day. Double sigh...I never wanted a dog.)
Keep this dog poop incident in mind because it emerges again momentarily.
During this "ruin my peaceful shower visit", Jay also had to tell me that Luke just mentioned he was presenting his saint project that day and needed his costume.
Giant sigh...and there went all hope for leaving the house on time.
I did not panic immediately. Luke had just worn his St. John Bosco "costume" on All Saints Day the week before, which consisted of his black dress pants and his older brother's black button down shirt with a piece of white duct tape to mimic a priest's collar. When I got out of the shower, Luke had his dress pants in hand but had no idea where the shirt ended up. I had him look under bureaus and in all his drawers, and I looked through Peter's room and the clean laundry. Despite all our efforts....no shirt.
I started to get very frustrated. One of the worst things to feel like is an incompetent parent! Luke's costume had been easy and perfect and half of it was just gone! And I was running late...and the clock was ticking.
But wait, there's more! (Kind of like an infomercial, but not about anything you want to buy!)
Jay was going to a retreat that weekend...the first he's gone to in a very long time. I was asked to have his family write encouraging letters to him as a surprise to receive at some point in the retreat. Several of the kids and I wrote letters and my daughter, Ellie, was supposed to give them to one of her friends whose dad is helping to run the retreat. Please note that I said "supposed to"....
At the same time the "costume incident" was occurring, Ellie texted me because she forgot all the letters that she was supposed to deliver. My frustration bubbled to the next level. So I had to go to plan B and send the letters in to school with Luke to give to Ellie's friend's younger sister. The same Luke that misplaced his costume shirt...so my confidence was not very high that this task would be accomplished.
By that point, I was running extra late for work, trying to figure out a backup costume, putting the retreat letters into a manila envelope for Luke to hopefully deliver, and yelling at Luke for not being more organized and planning ahead and I completely lost my patience. Not a pretty moment.
But wait, there's more!
So I just gave up and grabbed one of our male family member's suit jacket from our closet, threw it in a bag with his dress pants, told him(in a loud, impatient voice) that he would have to make due but it wouldn't look right, and started to grab my purse to leave.(very late)
And that's when Luke walked in front of me and I saw it..a six inch circular spot on the back of Luke's gym shirt. I yelled, "Wait!", reached in for a sniff, yelled, "You have sh%& on your shirt!!!" and promptly burst into hysterical tears. Definitely not a stellar mom moment. :(
I threw the shirt in the wash, had Luke put on his gym shirt from last year that has a few tiny holes in it from Josie's puppy teething incidents...did I mention I never wanted a dog...then grabbed the oatmeal I never had time to eat, told everyone through tears that I loved him, and walked out the door still crying.(and now very, very late)
As I cried down the road, I was feeling horrible about everything. I was trying to process through my thoughts and why I reacted the way I did. Why did I get so frazzled about the last minute need for a missing costume? Why didn't I handle it better? I could have used the incident as an opportunity for patient problem solving...and all I did was give my kids yet another reason they will need therapy some day!
It wasn't hard to figure out. It was pride...If Luke didn't have what he needed it makes me look like a bad parent. In the next second I felt in my heart, "So since you were afraid you would look like a bad parent, you ended up acting like a bad parent." Ouch...and yes, pretty much.
Still crying, I called Luke and apologized for yelling at him. And I texted Sarah to apologize for yelling.
And I got to work late feeling a little bruised on the inside.
Several hours later and hoping for an afternoon "do over"....
I made a brief stop at Adoration on the way home from work to ask for forgiveness and patience and fortitude and all the other virtues and graces I so desperately need(!). I swept and washed all the floors in the hour I had free before the kids got home. Josie the dog ate my last pair of sunglasses.(SO don't want a dog) Got the kids off the bus to learn that Luke had forgotten to deliver the letters. (big sigh but no yelling, so I consider it a #win)
And, best of all(insert eye roll here), Luke told me, "Too many kids were on the list to present that day at school so I got moved to tomorrow." (said with what I affectionately call Luke's muppet face(just like his dad) and a quick shoulder shrug)
So even though that black button down shirt is still MIA, Luke was able to borrow an alter boy robe that looks like a cassock...which was a way better costume than the shirt!
If you've had a tough parenting week, you aren't alone. Tomorrow is a new day! (Thank you, God!) This Bible verse is worthy of memorization for those tough parenting moments...
The Steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning,
great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-13
p.s. And in case you're wondering how Luke managed to get poop on the back of his shirt...
While I was showering, Luke was goofing with his football and pretending to be Gronk, (as in Gronkowski from the Patriots), catching balls and rolling on the ground RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SLIDERS where the poop incidence originally occurred and prior to Jay realizing he had stepped in it. If the whole costume incident hadn't happened I probably would have left for work without realizing Luke had poop on his shirt...and Jay wouldn't have noticed because, well, "men". So I did thank God that I saw Luke's shirt when I did. The poor kid already threw up in class a couple weeks ago. If he showed up to school with stinky poop on his shirt that would have just been so awful!
And this goes to show that God can bring good out of anything...even poop!
