So, the kids are driving me NUTS lately. Both of them. Nuts! It has been a difficult couple of weeks. I think it is time for school to get started. We need to get back on a schedule. Hopefully that will help. I say hopefully because I have hope that a schedule will change the issues and behaviors that have been rampant at home. If it doesn’t and the behavior is here to stay, well, then I don’t know what will happen.
It seems the crux of the problem is my voice. There seems to be a discrepency between the children and me when it comes to the utterances of my mouth. On the one hand, they love the sound of my voice. So much so that they require that I repeat every sentence, instruction and command at least four to five times. Sometimes even more. It seems that they enjoy it to the point that they urge me to use some of the loudest tones to which I am capable of producing. I, on the other hand, am sick to death at the sound of my own voice. I do not care to hear myself say the same things over and over and over. And herein lies the problem.
At one point, I considered the fact that perhaps they were both hearing impaired. Maybe, just maybe, those sweet little ears weren’t hearing me say, “NO” or “Please pick up your toys.” That would certainly explain the total lack of comprehension that was displayed when they were given a simple command. But I had to dismiss that theory as I realized they would come running to the sound of the refrigerator opening, the crinkling of a cookie package being opened, the creak of the bathroom door as I was sneaking into a moment of privacy, or the fact that Nadie knows the details to a phone conversation I was quietly having in another room. My theory was busted! Those little ears can definitely hear.
So what is the problem? What is causing this phenomenon? I know they both can hear. I’m pretty sure that my voice actually does produce audible sounds. Other humans hear me just fine. They both seem to be mentally capable of understanding instruction. For instance, they both can go and choose something to eat (rather quickly, actually) when I ask if anyone would like a snack. What is at the heart of this selctive hearing that both of my children seem to posess? And better yet, how can I alter this behavior?
Ultimately, they are children. And this is how children behave. How interesting it is that God calls us His children. Yes, He is our Creator, which puts him in a parental position. But I think part of why He calls us that is because of our incredible knack for not listening to His voice. We go about our daily business forgetting to stop and listen to what the Lord may have for us. And, by “us” and “we,” I really mean ME.
Much like Nadie and Oliver, there are various reasons I don’t listen. Often I am just busy with day to day life. Sometimes I may not like what I am being told. Or maybe I’m tired. And then there are the times when the things He calls me to do just seem too stinkin’ difficult. So here I am, a grown adult acting very similar to my six and two year olds. How exasperated my heavenly Father must be with me at times!
Thankfully He is patient with his children. Which is often a lot more than I can say for myself. And even though I may not always listen to him, He always listens to me. He always hears the voice of his children. And that is an important thing to a mama who has gone unheard all day. A mama that is at the end of her rope with repeating her requests time and time again. A mama that loves her kids more than anything but briefly entertains the idea of luring them into the backyard only to close and lock the door behind them. So as I ask one more time, “Please stop fighting and pick up your messes,” I will also ask the Lord for an extra dose of His divine patience to help me through the moment. At least I know one of those requests will be heard.
