Profound thoughts after playing with kids

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. I MAY EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.

(I know this is a longer post for me, but please read it!! I think you’ll thank me!!)

Last night was probably one of the best mommy moments I’ve had in a long time, if not ever.

#1 played with me. I mean really played with me.

After dinner, #1 wanted to play. She was sitting on the floor with her Leapfrog alphabet fridge toy. All of the letters were lined up on the floor. She was telling me the letters and the ones she didn’t know.

Then, she decided she needed something. So she told “I go in the living room. I be right back.”

She went to the toys and brought one back. A little toy car.

She pushed it to me. I pushed it back to her. We did this for at least 15 minutes. Back and forth. If I did it well, she said “good job, mommy.” Other times, she would crawl to go get it.

Apparently, pushing the car backwards is not acceptable, either. “No, mommy, like this. No backwards” and she pushed the car back to me the right way.

Did I mention it was fun, because it really was.

After the day was over and the kids were in bed, Mr. Serious handed me our reading for Sunday school class. It is from The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg. He told me I had to read one paragraph. And it was so good, I’m going to type it out here for you.

“I look in on them as they sleep at night, and I remember how the day really went: I remember how they were trapped in a fight over checkers and I walked out of the room because I didn’t want to spend the energy needed to teach them how to resolve conflict. I remember how my daughter spilled cherry punch at dinner and I yelled at her about being careful as if she’s revealed some deep character flaw; I yelled at her even though I spill things all the time and no one yells at me; I yelled at her-to tell the truth-simply because I’m big and she’s little and I can get away with it. And then I saw that look of hurt and confusion in her eyes, and I knew there was a tiny wound on her heart that I had put there, and I wished I could have taken those sixty seconds back. I remember how at night I didn’t have slow, sweet talks, but merely rushed the children to bed so I could have more time to myself. I’m disappointed.”

At that moment, all of the times I yelled at her or got on her during that short morning and afternoon time I get to spend with her were amplified. She was whining, fussing, crying, and I got on her. She spilled her cereal, and I got on her. She didn’t want to go potty when I took her, and I got on her.

So, my hope for the day/week/month, even hour, is that we won’t get quite as disappointed with ourselves today as we did yesterday.

We will take that extra moment to teach a lesson, get a cuddle, or read a book. We shouldn’t be disappointed at the end of a long, hard day. We should be satisfied. We should demand more, not of our kids or our spouses, but of ourselves.

I just yelled at my kids but next time I'll do better.

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39 Comments

  1. Thanks girl I needed that. Its been a rough one around here lately. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Yep. I think we all need to hear that. To be reminded of that.
    Thank you. 🙂

  3. This just made tears come to my eyes. My days are very hard right now as we’ve had a new ailment every week since Christmas (and I do mean every week – chicken woke up with pink eye this morning!). Punky just spilled her cereal and I got on to her.

    This is a great thought for everyone out there, parents or not.

    Thank you so much Krystyn, I’m off to hug my kids.

  4. It doesn’t take being a parent to realize just how true those words ring – at work, in relationships, everywhere, really.

    That books sounds like a great read. I think I’ll pick it up today. Thank you for sharing.

  5. That was fantastic–I think we all need to re-focus once in awhile! I’m going to share this with my husband 🙂

  6. WOW..what a great paragraph to share. I think we could all use that reminder. Thanks babe..I might have to look into that book!!

  7. A great reminder and so true, I don’t have anyone yelling at me about spilling – which I just did the coffee.

    Very thoughtful post.

  8. Wonderful post – something we all need to be reminded of everyday that our kids really are a gift and they are learning and growing. This really brought tears to my eyes = thank you!

  9. What a great message. Thank you so much for sharing!

  10. oK…So I totally cried. Thanks for the reminder…maybe that will be my next read! Love you girl!

  11. thanks for this friend – so very very true. and so glad you enjoyed every ounce of last night’s little moment.

    the little ones sure do add up 🙂

  12. thanks for making me all teary…I smudged my make-up!

  13. Sparkette says:

    Wow. That is quite the paragraph. Thank you for retyping that. I appreciate being in a way reminded of those things.

  14. What a wonderful post!

  15. It’s so easy to forget. What a beautiful paragraph, I’m glad you took the time to write it out.

    L,
    Tania

  16. Great post Krystyn.

    I think I needed to hear that too. They really are little for so little. So to waste it being “disappointed” is no way to spend it!

    Thanks for giving me a new goal to work towards!

  17. That was a great post! I think I really needed to hear that today.

  18. That sounds like a really good book and that you are getting a lot out of it. I may need to look into that… I “yell over spilled milk” a lot myself… ; )

  19. Smart A$$ Mom says:

    ally enjoyed reading this. Tony and I both spend a decent amount of time asking each other if we are being realistic with the kids. It is such a short amount of time we have with them, why not make it the best we can?

  20. I think this is by far my favorite post ever….I really needed that. I can totally apply that with the kids I babysit…good remider 🙂

    Love, Mere

  21. Thanks for that!!! I could use to hear that everyday recently. Keep the goods coming.

  22. RachelAnn says:

    aww that was really sweet. That’s a great book, I may not have kids but I can relate to times I’ve gotten snappy with my mom just because I was in a bad mood…gotta work on that

  23. I really, really, really try to remember this everyday but since I spend every waking moment with the kiddos it is too hard to keep my cool all the time. I should try harder and just scream into a pillow if I need to.

  24. blueviolet says:

    What a beautifully written post. Thank you!

  25. How sweet! I’m not a mom yet but that was a great story that can be applied to life in general.

    Thanks 🙂

  26. I need to remind myself of that more often now, especially with all we’ve got going on.
    We read that book in our church “key group” we were in when we lived in TN. Love it.

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