What I Did This Morning

Last night I prayed-- a lot. Both with and without Ben. Needless to say, despite the fact that we had a lovely weekend with lots of family time, it was a tough afternoon, punctuated by a extremely acute tantrum while out on a walk. We had one of those moments after Zosia went to bed when we looked at each other and were like, "Where on earth do we go from here?" We consulted a Penelope Leach book (if you ever have to read a parenting book, this is woman to look to), which gave us comfort: everything we're experiencing is entirely age-appropriate, normal behavior, and we even have it quite easy as far as the toddler spectrum goes. Which was reassuring, but doesn't make it easier.

So, helpless, and realizing that we're doing the right thing when confronted with difficult toddler situations (re-directing attention, helping set expectations, comforting but not caving during tantrums), I felt this need to pray for our family, specifically for me. I'm never sure if prayer works. I've had a couple of almost creepy experiences either of my own prayer working, but more often the prayer of someone who apparently has the inside track with God working, which make me believe that often, it does. So I gave it a try. We prayed for our family, for Zosia, for Lily, for our own patience. And, I can't explain it, but this morning was amazingly beautiful and smooth. Lily napped, Zosia played independently and played with me, we went on a walk without any major conflicts, and Zosia surprised me when she left a friend's house (transitions are very hard for toddlers) without any incident. Wow.

So since this morning was so smooth, since the babies seemed to be in total equilibrium, I had a burst of energy and a swath of free time that enabled me to finally tackle our bedroom. Of all the spaces in the house, our bedroom is the one I struggle with the most. It is dark, we picked the wrong paint color when we moved in, and so I generally avoid the room altogether. Repainting the room is on my to-do list (along with enlarging the windows one day down the road), but in the mean time I arranged the furniture in a slightly more flowing manner, and gave it a good tidy. Not perfect, but much better.