Tipping my hat

Tipping my hat 

by: Laura Saunders

http://ljsaundersgrace101.blogspot.com

"Bleeeeh--Waaaaaaaaah!" And suddenly my lap is covered in throw up in the middle of an interview dinner while my husband stares frozen in shock that our sweet adorable little charmer just turned into an exorcist baby spouting copious amounts of, well, you know...

I'm trying to contain or at least direct the liquid bombing, find a burp cloth or anything to mop up, soothe my poor baby, and apologize profusely to the upper level resident next to me whose purse may or may not have been splattered. David still plays statue ( I wonder if I blink if he'd suddenly be in action. Helpful instead of deathly Weeping Angel statues? Yes. My name is Laura, and I'm a Doctor Who fan.).

Though it seems like forever, we manage to grab all the baby gear, wipe and strip Ethan down in the car, and drive home listening to our son's coos of glee because now apparently all is right in his world. Yay for being naked in a car seat! And welcome to our son's first onset of a cold.

The next few days would be snot covered and full of wailing (baby or me?), coughing, and late night fevers. And let me say that I am so glad that my husband is a doctor and is in Peds rotation right now, because he helped keep me less anxious when Ethan's temperature hit 101.1*

Lately, I've been caught up in being a busy Mommy/housewife--wiping a little nose constantly, applauding my boy when he pulls up to stand, and sweeping him up when he loses his balance and falls on that chubby little booty. I've rushed around looking for Christmas crafts/decorations that I can repurpose into something somewhat elegant, sewn curtains and pillows, and crocheted baby sweaters and hats. You see, I'm hosting Christmas for the first time in our first house with our first baby, and I want to make beautiful picture perfect memories, darn it! And while I wear my Mommy hat that gets switched with my Homemaker hat back and forth, I sometimes get frustrated with my husband who just seems to make my hats topsy turvy.

Now, I know that he works really really hard for long hours days and days in a row. I know that his job is demanding both mentally and physically. I know that he works and wants to spend as much quality time with his little family as possible. And I know that he tries to help out when he can. However, I also know that he has forgotten that dirty dishes can go ~gasp~ in the dishwasher, or at least in the sink. Someone also has a tendency to refer to taking care of baby Ethan as "babysitting" when he does so... Um, you mean Being a Parent? This person also volunteered to clean off the Foreman grill after dinner one night last week. After a few days, I decided to wait a little bit more just to see how long it might take... I broke down and washed it yesterday.

So I get stuck in this Mommy Homemaker mode and then get frustrated when my domain isn't running the way I want it.

Then, we had a golden day. The sun was a cheerful marigold in a clear blue lake of a sky. The air was fresh and crisp with just a hint of pine. It was David's day off, and we were going to get a Christmas tree and have a date night.

Listening to Christmas carols and singing along, laughing and checking at odd moments to make sure that our tree was still tied securely to the top of our car, we made our way home and successfully got our beautiful, dense, Douglas fir set up.

Later, we dropped Ethan off at his babysitter's house (an angelic woman from our church who volunteered to babysit for free) and went out to dinner.

We chatted over an appetizer, shared our hearts over dinner and sangria, and prayed over our family. And sometime during this dinner and walking around afterward, we became just a young, goofy-in-love couple again. I hung onto his arm as we walked and talked and giggled and teased. He teased back and talked more, and we left the everyday busyness and business behind. David said that he hadn't seen me that giddy in a while.

I need to put on my Effervescent, Cheerful, Confidant, Infatuated with My Man Hat more often. It is so easy to get caught up in my new and different roles that come with staying home with my precious baby and forget that other part of me and the other parts of David besides Daddy and Doctor.

I have been so blessed with a treasure of a little family. My husband is compassionate, intelligent, driven, hard-working, loving, goofy, helpful, and God-loving. My son is so sweet, smiley, determined, alert, social, and mischievous. I love both my boys so very much! I just need to make sure that my care for my little boy doesn't overshadow my care for my big boy. And most of all, I desire to honor my Lord and seek a closer relationship with Him each day. He should come first before anyone and definitely before daily busyness.

All of my hats should be perched on a foundational head of faith and love and grace that makes each one more and more beautiful as time and trust go by.

I want to always wear my Love the Lord My God Hat...

Besides it's the one that turns into a sparkly crown some day :)