Dear Archer, I hope you read this some day and laugh, or at the very least forgive me. Or better yet, not remember what happened at all. I'm sorry for yelling at you tonight when you licked your book. Seriously, why did you lick the book? Here we are, I'm trying to help you read a word and you were stressed and you LICKED the page. I admit, I wasn't being as patient as I could have been. And when you licked the page my response was a little over the top. Maybe a lot. I'm sorry. I apologized to you and gave you a hug and really, you were doing a great job reading and I'm sorry I wasn't more encouraging to you. And I'm sorry you're the oldest and you're the kid we're learning on, so that we can do better with the next two. But honestly, I'm not sure anything's better for them, either. While I'm at it...
Dear Shelly, I'm sorry you're the middle child. I'm sorry that Archer bosses you around (although you do your fair share of bossing him, too), and that you'll probably hold it against us someday that we let him do everything before you got to do any of it. (If it makes you feel any better, Archer claims that he NEVER gets to do ANYTHING.) And let's not leave anyone out...
Dear Elijah, I'm sorry you're the youngest and you get all the leftovers. And I'm sure we'll find more ways to mess up along the way, things we haven't even thought of yet. Sorry in advance.
How is it that normal, well-adjusted happy people can become so completely inept when they become parents? How is it that smart people become so stupid about how to do stuff? How am I supposed to respond when my kid (who KNOWS better) does something so completely ________ (wrong, weird, disgusting, whatever)?
Oh Lord, please help, because there's just no way I can do this without you. Help me remember to pray before I even open my mouth to respond to the kid who just licked a page in his book. Help me get through the next 20, 30, 50 years of parenting. Or through the next 5, 10, 20 minutes.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
~Philippians 4:6
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