a comedy of errors
“mommy, pee-pee’s coming!” says mikey, standing by the bathroom door and starting to do the pee-pee dance.
“ok, let’s go to the potty!” i say from the living room where i had been sitting next to allie. mikey and i trot into the bathroom. at which point allie starts to cry. this has been the usual for tonight as she’s been unusually clingy and has cried everytime i wasn’t holding her or sitting right next to her. i figure she might be coming down with a cold or something and further figure that she’d be alright until after mikey finished his business.
just as i help mikey plunk himself down on the toilet, allie begins howling a pain cry. i run from the bathroom to the living room (thank goodness our place is small and it only took two seconds! 
) to find allie lying down with her foot twisted and wedged into a small space at the bottom of a bookcase. just as i manage to get her foot unstuck, and try to comfort her as she cries (thankfully more from being scared than hurt now) and check her ankle to make sure nothing was broken, mikey calls from the bathroom, “mommy, bloody nose!”
i think, “you’ve got to be kidding me.” i turn around to tell him he doesn’t have a bloody nose and instead see that his nose has indeed sprung a bloody leak. at least mikey is more fascinated than scared at this point as he looks down to watch the blood drip from his nose down to his bare leg. which of course, makes the blood drip faster.
i run back into the bathroom holding allie and try to hold some toilet paper to his nose. but he keeps wriggling away and begins to whimper (he absolutely hates anything touching or going up his nose– to this day, he has never picked his nose!). i put allie down in order to hold the tp to mikey’s nose more securely. allie begins howling again and clinging to my leg.
right at this moment when i’d normally lose it, i call out, “Lord, help me!”. just then, a peace that comes only from the Lord came over me and i was gently reminded to handle one thing at a time and we’d make it through this.
so that’s just what i do. i manage to pull mikey back together, get him into the living room, then go back and get allie and we all sit down on the couch where i tell mikey to take a minute and rest and relax to let his nose heal up. allie cuddles down on my shoulder.
the rest of the evening consists of herding us all upstairs to do our night-time ritual of bath, book, brush teeth, sing, pray, bed. phil is on-call so it’s a one-woman show tonight. after the kids are in bed, i come downstairs only to be greeted with a couple piles of laundry that need to be folded and put away, toys strewn all over the living room floor, and a sink full of dirty dishes that need to be put in the dishwasher.
i’m feeling overwhelmed. the odd thing is that i’m feeling overwhelmed with thankfulness. thankful that i have a husband who is very dear to me and who helps out so much when he’s able to be home. thankful for my two sweet children who usually always mean well, though their best intentions aren’t always well-executed. thankful that i didn’t lose it tonight and instead realized that i am very blessed to be able to be right here where i am. thankful that there’s no place i’d rather be and no thing i’d rather be doing than what i’ve been called to do in this particular season of life. and most of all, thankful that my God is never very far away and is able and so willing to provide just the help i need when i call upon Him. simply amazing.
11 Comments
mrsstellalee
i’m encouraged to hear how well you handled it by God’s grace. i’ll need to keep that in mind the next time i’m about to go into that “ahhh-mode”. 🙂
MominIreland
That was simply beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
About why Aidan went: Even though he’s the oldest, Aidan is twice as much work as the other kids…it has to do with his personality. Actually, he’s fine on his own, it’s when he gets with the others. So to make it easier on Tim, who not only had to be the domestic one for three weeks but also keep preaching and doing ministry, it was decided that he should only have the easiest two to look after. Also, we thought the experience would be good for Aidan, and it really was! And it was also very nice for me to have a companion.
Kavedissian
wow what a good mommy you are, i still have a hard time managing 2 kids at once.
mrs_shinfucius
it does get busy with two kids. it sure does make one depend on God more. yesterday, i was nursing isaac in one arm to get him to calm down while pushing kate with my other hand in our double stroller around and around our house to get her to nap…and i couldn’t help but chuckle to myself that this must be a funny scene if someone were to walk in on me.
brofermin
Thanks for sharing Michelle and again, as only a story from the Tsai household can create– laughter and thankfulness. 🙂 I definitely need to call on God to help me in those instances as well, especially since I feel them with only 1 child!
mrssjlee
oh my – i was feeling frantic just reading your post. that is, until you reminded me of God’s grace and help.
nahyoojin
Wow. That really makes me want to have kids. (Could you read the sarcasm in my typing?)
joannaaaakim
you’re a supermom!
nbrath
thanks for the reminder that God is always near in times of trial! What a fun, crazy time…motherhood! 🙂
natalie
greantea71
i totally feel you! I had a moment of overwhelming thankfulness this week, too, when I was just counting my blessings and running out of fingers and toes.
you’re on your way to becoming a Super Mom (and I’m not just saying that to be nice. My mom is a Super Mom so I know the prequisites to becoming one quite well).
MNah
Praise the Lord for that Michelle! I’m so encouraged to pray for the grace to make it through those kinds of times (and goodness knows there are many). 🙂