Learning to Follow

So it turns out that battling bugs the size of sesame seeds is wildly exhausting. Who knew? But it is. And this past weekend I was ready to rest. But 'twas not to be. Dirk was working like mad to meet a writing deadline for work and he really needed me to take the lovies out for a bit so he could have some quiet.

Well it just so happened it was Home Depot workshop day. A day I have grown to love only because it was a kiddie event that I am not typically required to attend. Somehow being in a warehouse sized home improvement store crammed with kids pounding hammers non-stop doesn't conjure up images of rest and peace for me.

But there I was with my orange-aproned lovies right in the thick of it. Peeps, it was stressful. I mean it kind of was. I'm pretty handy as far as projects go but don't expect me to pound nails with any sort of accuracy. Or follow plans for a woodworking project. No, please don't expect that. But there the girls were, eager to make their wooden valentine wall hangings with a mother without one clue how to take the first step.

I read the instructions but all I saw (over the incessant pounding of hammers around us) was "Wa wa wa wa wa" in the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher. Except there weren't any words of instruction. Only pictures with little arrows by the nails pointing in the direction they should go. Seemed simple enough. But all of the pieces of wood were angled in such away that one false move and the wall hanging became a doorstop. DIY disaster to be sure. But I stepped up to the plate and gave it my best shot. As I began to place the nails where I thought they should go a woman from Germany (wild guess here) said, "These is so complex for za children. So very deeficult. Do not follow directions on za paper. Pound zee nails in zee back first." Her little wall hanging was all finished. She seemed a trustworthy source from whom to take instruction.

So I listened to my sauerbraten loving friend. I pounded zee nails in zee back. But it didn't work. And I was growing increasingly nervy and wanted to go home and or to the airport to board a plane to Maui. But it was Emerson who won the day. "Mama, it's okay. It goes this way," she instructed. And in a matter of minutes it was my precious little zeven seven year old lovie who was putting the wooden hanger together for both herself and her baby sister.

I wonder how many lessons I've learned from my kids. How many times I've done better to let them take the lead. Oh, I hope I remember to follow more and more often. Their ways are often so much sweeter. And sometimes full of crazy as they'd like nothing more than to ride in the trunk of the car or jump off of the balcony. So, moderation in the following of the littles. Moderation in all things. I do know that much. But, oh, they do know a thing or two about a thing or two.

This morning Ainsley love was looking for her little dolly. It's a plastic doll on which you can snap little changes of clothes. She's a little bit in love with her. She was sad in thinking she had been misplaced when all of a sudden her face lit up like the sun. She remembered where she had put her. She pulled back her curtain to reveal the dolly standing, facing out the window. "I put her here last night so she could look at the stars," she beamed. Of course. Shouldn't we all point one another so that we can see the stars. May it always be.