Don’t throw the baby out…with the toilet water!

Don’t throw the baby out…with the toilet water!

I dropped my daughter in the toilet today. Don’t judge! But please…feel free to laugh. How could a loving mother do such a thing, you may be wondering? Well, join the club! I have spent many an hour wondering about the things I have done. J
I was at my dad’s house for the day with my 2 year-old daughter, Mariah, and Lincoln, my 6 month-old son. I was there all day because my son’s helmet was getting decorated.

As I’m still potty training, I pretty much drop everything if Mariah says she needs to go potty. On this particular morning, I was doing laundry and spending time with my stepmother. Mariah had said “I have to go caca,” about 10 times in the period of an hour. Each time, I dropped everything and ran to the toilet to put her on. Nothing would happen, so I’d go back to my business since she hadn’t done hers. When I started nursing my son and she had the scare, I put him down and did the same routine with her, but to no avail. So, when she said it again 4 minutes later, I decided, I’m not going to put him down because she’s not going to go! And I was right…about part of that…

I, thinking I was a pretty smart supermom, held my nursing son in one hand and balanced him on my knee. I pulled down her pants with one hand, and then hoisted her onto the toilet. It’s always those moments when you stop to applaud yourself that things go terribly wrong. So there I was: juggling two babies and thinking I had beat the system, when something unexpected happened. Mariah thought she’d be a little more comfortable if she just scooted back a few inches…and PLOP!!! Into the toilet she dropped! Now, it was certainly time to put Lincoln down. She was stunned, sad, a little afraid and wet! I swooped her up quickly and peeled her dripping t-shirt up over her head, trying not to get any more water on her than was already there. L The poor dear was crying, and while trying to validate her feelings and minimize the impact by showing a light heart, I got her back onto sturdy ground. My sweet girl said over and over again “I want to take a shower. I want to take a shower.” I know it’s probably bad form, but I was totally fighting back laughter.

Was it worth it to take the shortcut? Absolutely not. I do feel bad for having dropped my daughter in the toilet. And some friends of mine will never let me live that down. Also, if you know me, my sister or my mom, you know this is a worst nightmare kind of a situation. But all in all, I do feel that the lesson was worth learning.
As a new mom (I will probably call myself a new mom all the way up until my kids graduate high school), I think this experience was tailor made for me by God. We moms have so many tasks to accomplish throughout the day and so many interruptions and detours that we are constantly trying to find a groove. So if we can multi-task and knock a few things out, then we feel we have hit gold. But there’s got to be a balance between accomplishing the things on my list, and having the patience to either stop when I need to, or go at my kids’ pace. I lack so many things, and today, this was one.

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12

I love how there is a scripture (or two…or ten) for everything I go through. This one is so cool because it helps me connect with the idea that everything is spiritual. When I go through all of the tasks of my day, it can feel mundane and draining. I mean, let’s face it- most of what I do today must be done all over again tomorrow…and the next day. But this scripture reminds me that I am being strengthened by God, according to His power so that I may have great endurance and patience. I so deeply need both of those when going about my day!

One of my Big Sister Mamas always says, “It’s not about what you can get done. It’s about what you can get done and remain spiritually minded.” Well, I think we can all look back at my morning and make the call easily. But when we’re in the thick of our own daily struggles, large or small, that’s when the rubber meets the road. It’s hard to stop and be patient when you know that you can squeeze out a few things on your list if you just cut a corner or skip over a step. But where patience is present, everyone wins.

So, the next time you are trying do 3 things at once, remember to stop and think before something goes terribly (or humorously) wrong: is it imperative that I do all of this at the same time, or is there some way I can slow down? A lot of times we can have such a great heart to get our job done, that we can miss out on a God-given opportunity to slow down a bit, which we so often need.

So to you, mama, sister, friend… slow down and allow God, Himself, to build you up!