8.29.19 Days at home

 Cleaning my house all day doesn't do a lot for me personally. Mostly it makes me more prone to anger at night when my kids come home and start living here again. I guess I have utterly failed at training them to be tidy. So instead of setting myself for frustration I decided to do some coloring with the kids that are here. We are going to work on this skill this year. I drew some pictures. They colored some. 

Lia was unusually quiet and not part of the action. I was pretty absorbed in the project so not until some weird sounds started coming where I couldn't see them did it click she was into something. Yes she was happily slip and sliding in freshly cracked egg yolks. Those untidy kids also don't follow through on chores very well and thus the eggs were collected and in the house but not put away. All fun for Lia today who has broke three two this go around and 1 earlier. I didn't realize she was getting them from the bucket until this time. 

Life is good with so many opportunities to learn. I listened to a podcast about children being attached to their families HERE. It was so thought provoking. As I listened to my older kids digest the craziness around them and watch my younger ones different behaviors I realize I have work to do, but it is possible and so worth it. I love these kiddos and am working to speak more with them to pay more attention and to make home a place of refuge. Sometimes we dig in and work, sometimes we talk, sometimes we eat, sometimes we rest... there are many sides to refuge.

The Family is the answer to many of the plagues of our modern world. It's hard and attacked on every angle but so worth the effort. Even the messes and the constant attention to teaching and guiding. As I have saide these three will learn more obedience this year, but I will also work harder to attach them to me, to help them feel loved, and noticed by their mom. And we will do that by reading stories, eating what they want for lunch -- shrimp and macaroni and cheese, and coloring, and watching what they do.