Precious

My kids are different. I have been told this by everyone. I'm not bragging, they are just different from "normal" kids. Because of this, they require a lot more energy, time, and patience than most kids. I see those families, you know who you are, whose kids obey when first asked, whose kids behave perfectly in a store, whose kids are always kind to each other, whose kids may have their moments of disrespect but for the most part do everything their parents ask. I envy those parents, until my kids do something precious.
Haiden has become an expert escape artist. She was only an amateur before this summer, but she has surpassed that to expert. A few weeks ago, she was running around outside, I was in the garden and she was supposed to be in bed. Rob, in his "I am alpha parent" role, was trying to put her back in bed for me so I could have a few moments in peace. Soon, she was back outside talking to me in the garden. Rob was no where to be seen. I called him from my phone in the garden (yes, too lazy to walk inside) and asked him where he was. He was stationed outside Haiden's door so she couldn't escape. Hmmmm.... I asked missy Haiden how she got out of her room, she responded, "I jumped out the window of course." Needless to say, I was speechless. She jumped out the window to escape her room. Wonderful. I can no longer confine her to her room as punishment because she will just leave by way of window and go play with her friends. This and the constant bike riding, and the constant running off to play with friends without telling me where she is has been going on for a few weeks now and I'm getting to the end of my rope. Everyday is exhausting, but it's hard to stay mad when she comes in, climbs up on my lap, and tells me she loves me. Yesterday we were in the car and she was singing. Oh, and the other thing, she hates seatbelts. This is a constant fight. So I was trying to get her to put on her seatbelt, and she was singing about it and actually put it on. And she kept singing and singing about everything she saw and what we were doing. I asked her if she liked to sing, and she said she did, that is makes her happy. It was the sweetest thing to hear her say. She sings about everything and it makes her happy to sing. I love all my kids so much and am so grateful to have them, different as they are. I would probably get bored with perfect children, and perfect children would be bored with me. Someday, when they are all grown and gone with kids of their own, I hope I can look back and laugh at all the difficult times and all the challenges and remember how fun it was.