Day 18: The one where Moses throws up.

My (not-so) perfect children.

Yesterday was Natty's 11th birthday!  She requested to stay home from church and be together all day as a family, so that's what we did.  After a delicious breakfast of her choice (crepes with berry compote and whipped cream), we went outside and jumped on the trampoline, played musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey and other old-school party games.  The party games were totally an afterthought, but it was a blast!  We have a lot of taller homes that overlook our yard and I wondered if our neighbors were getting a kick out of us dancing around the circle of chairs and fighting over them during musical chairs!  Natty had chosen trout for lunch, which is not something we ever eat at home.  Moses and Jubi were not thrilled with the choice and by the time we had all sat down, Moses in particular had convinced himself this was going to be the worst lunch ever.  Which he made sure actually happened by commenting every 30 seconds about how disgusting and yucky the fish was- except for he hadn't tasted it yet.  Natty, meanwhile, sat at the other end of the table growing more and more unhappy as her siblings' bad attitude affected everyone's moods.  After much annoyance, Moses finally ate one bite of fish, but couldn't seem to get it down.  Before we knew it he was gagging and finally threw up part of his meal.  Well, that was the final straw.  Natty ran off crying (she hates seeing people throw up- shocker, I know) and I got mad at Moses for not thinking about how his actions were affecting his sister (even though I knew that kind of empathy is quite underdeveloped in a 4 year old).  Lunch ended messily and then we all had a few minutes to ourselves to regroup.  The afternoon was consumed by watching The Sound of Music (Natty's choice), which all my kids managed to sit through! 

Ironically, this picture was in the Curious George book we read after lunch.  Moses pointed out the fish falling from George's mouth and said, "That's what we had.  It was gross."  Duh, we know.

Why do I tell this story?  Well, from a neighbor's window, they might have seen a happy-go-lucky family who spends time together and is all smiles.  From the pictures I post on social media, you might think we get along famously and never lose our tempers with each other.  I know I've thought this about countless others who only share a neatly curated slice into their lives.  We all know it to be true, but I thought I'd put it out there in print.  My family is blessed- we love each other, we play together, we laugh, we dance.  But, my kids argue a lot.  I lose my temper when they annoy me.  Even Scotty and I disagree and frustrate each other (I know you can hardly imagine it to be true!).  So, when you're having one of those days when you've failed as a person, remember you aren't alone, there will be better days, and we have a wonderfully patient and merciful God.