Adventures of Motherhood

When I was a kid, I used to think my life was rather boring.  I wanted to be a writer but never saw anything that happened to me as very interesting.  I always thought my day to day activities were ordinary and mundane.  What I should have done was had a nice long talk with my mother and asked her about any of the crazy moments she had raising me and my brother and sister.  I'm sure her life would have sounded like an adventure for sure.  As kids we don't see those things that happen as very interesting but when you see it through your mother's eyes, you realize how funny and interesting your life really is.

Now I have y'all all set up for a good story, and you won't be disappointed, as long as you have a good sense of adventure.  :)

 It all begins with five children in a van with one lone mother, me.   My husband gets off work too late to get his car registered and he had asked me one day last week, if I would mind going into town  to pay the registration fee for his car that went out in May.  I told him that I would be happy to take care of it for him.

I took the registration paper in hand managed to get all the kids loaded into the van and off to the tax office we went. 

We had to park in a parallel parking spot on a one way street that required us to cross a lane of possible traffic.  Elijah was asleep in his car seat and I decided to keep him in his car seat and just carry him in.  I got him out of the drivers side of the van and ran around the other side to make sure the other children didn't get hit by cars as they got out.  I then sent them in pairs across the road making sure they were safe and finally I made it across. 

We then had to go up a lot of steps to the main entrance of the Court House where the tax office was located.  I didn't count the steps but Hannah and Ruth did.  I don't remember how many they said their was, maybe 14 or 15.  We entered the office and went down the hallway to a steep flight of stairs. I quickly carried Elijah in his car seat down the stairs and as I reached the bottom step, Hannah panicked. She has a fear of heights.  I turned around and saw Hannah at the top of the steps hollering, "Aaaaaa!!!"  I knew this was not a good thing because when she starts to panic, Jonathan reciprocates. Ruth went up and held Hannah's hand the rest of the way down the steps.

 Jonathan just sat right down on the step where he was at when she started panicking and started hollering.  I had to set Elijah's car seat down and go up the steps to get Jonathan and carry him down.  As I was doing this I informed the children that perhaps we should go back up on the elevator when we were ready to leave.  The older 3 liked that idea, but Jonathan then started hollering, "I don't want to go on an elevator!" I decided that I would cross that bridge when we came to it.  We then went into the tax office, after I reassured Jonathan that the tax office was not an elevator. 

I had all the kids sit down on the chairs that were by the door.  I turned around looked at the empty lines and then declared, "I forgot our insurance card!"  I was picturing having to take all the kids back out to the car by way of all the steps and elevators.  The lady behind the window where I had originally imagined a long line told me that she wasn't going to do that to me.  She let me get the car registered without seeing our insurance card.  Isn't it wonderful when the Lord blesses you with other sympathetic moms at just the right moment. 

I paid the taxes and had to get the kids all back outside and back in the van.  As we stepped out of the door Jonathan started his repetitive crying, "I don't want to go in an elevator! I don't want to go in an elevator!"  I set Elijah with the older 3 children in the elevator and told them that I would meet them on the next floor by the elevator.  I then picked Jonathan up and carried him up the flight of steps and then stood by the elevator waiting for it to catch up with me.  In that brief wait, I imagined the kids going to the wrong floor, or the elevator breaking with 4 of my children in there without me.  But thankfully I didn't have to worry for long because the door soon opened. 

Of course Jonathan was still thinking that I was going to take him in it and was still upset.  I finally calmed him down and informed him that we were now up the stairs and there was nothing more for him to worry about.  We then went outside and managed to all get in the van without any more incidence. 

After that adventure, we went to Wal-mart where I always find it funny how people start counting us.  I know they arer counting my children by the way their heads start bobbing as we walk by, and then they whisper to the person they're with, "Wow, five kids! Or was it six?" Which of course results in them having to recount to make sure they didn't get the wrong number.   :) 

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (1 Corinthians 9:24)

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1)