I got married when I was 19. I am still married today to the same man. Yep, this July will be 17 years! So if you do the math that means I'm 36. When I was approaching 30 I was looking forward to it. I felt being 30 would actually mean I was a real adult. I didn't have to sit at the kids table anymore. Although, for me, it was a choice not a chore. I was gathering information and gaining experience.  For what? To be the perfect mom? NOT! But to learn how to speak and love and react. Reaction is key and speaks volumes about a person.

In my early childhood there was a lot of negative reaction. I think I knew/felt that wasn't the way to handle things. I was determined to do it differently.  And so I do, sometimes, but there are times I fail. I make it right with my husband and kids AND the Lord and move on. I have to teach them it's ok to mess up because that's when we learn how to do it right. 

J-1 is "potty trained" ... sort of. He waits until the very last second and his bladder is about to explode before he runs to the bathroom screaming "I have to potty!" Which is usually followed by a short silence and then I hear the sound of water trickling to the floor. The first words out of his mouth? "I'm sorry mommy." or "awe, man, my underwear's wet". Honestly, the first couple of times he did it I thought he would get better because he's learning, in training, I have to teach him to go when he first feels it and not to wait until it is about to come out. But then it kept happening. A lot. I soon found myself "reacting" with aggravation then anger. And since our actions speak louder than our words I knew I was headed for a lesson I didn't want my son to learn. I stopped dead in my tracks. I repeated the rules for using the potty and had him say them back to me. We cleaned up the mess and spent a few minutes alone to think about what just happened. Better known as "Timeout". It was more for me than him. Parents need a time out, too, right?  In fact, we need a few timeouts each day. 

* If taking a 10-second count down mixed with a few deep breaths causes you to fall down instead of calm down - you need a time out!

* The moment you find yourself talking to God in a stern voice "Lord, I need you to lay your holy hand on my child before I get to 3." - you need a timeout!

Love you because Jesus loves me!