It Does My Heart Good...

Monday was one of those afternoons. The kids were out of school early, the weather was a little warmer, and mischief was high at our house. Sunshine had been into and out of many things all day and decided that she didn't want to nap. As I was explaining to Little One and her friend why "we shouldn't hit someone over the head with a maraca" Freckles came racing down the stairs yelling that the toilet was clogged. I verified that it was not overflowing yet and so finished my conversation with the girls ("I only apologize to my sister..."), contained Sunshine in her highchair with a snack because like any other toddler, she loves the bathroom, and went to investigate the source of the clog. A clogged toilet, reported by a six year old always makes me nervous about what I might find. This wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. It was clogged with half of the last roll of toilet paper in the house. When the story finally came out, our son had been trying to see how much of the water he could splash out of the toilet by throwing big wads into the bowl. When he attempted to flush, the toilet just couldn't handle the volume and filled within an inch of the rim. After I fished it out and got things running again I continued with my usual afternoon of begging, pleading, cajoling, and bribing the kids to finish homework, set the table, etc, etc.
We began Family Home Evening a little later than I hoped, as usual, but pressed forward nonetheless. Freckles was so excited to read his scripture and did it very well. He is becoming such a good reader. As I explained that we were all going to be secret service agents for the next two weeks, performing acts of service for our family, excitement rose and bubbled over. The kids were so excited they refused to get ready for bed until they had done some things for other members of the family. It is so fun to see them transform from bickering, teasing, annoying, siblings to loving, serving, kind friends. It does my heart good, especially after a hectic day, to see our family lovingly and willingly helping one another. As I looked at each of my sleeping children (some days that's when I love them best), I felt so grateful for all the things I get to experience as a parent. I was especially thankful that those good moments always overshadow the difficult ones.