Just Write: Consequences

Her baby took 90 minutes to settle down and fall asleep for the night. The resulting late bedtime meant that Mom was pleasantly surprised when the baby didn't wake up again until 3, two hours later than her usual mid-night rendezvous. Her pleasure was short-lived, however, as it became increasingly clear that the baby was not settling back down quickly. In fact, it soon became obvious that the baby was tired, but cheerful and quite awake!

At 5:15, the tired Mom finally returned to bed. By then, her side of the bed was completely cold, so she carefully scooted her pillow over next to her husband and curled up, back touching his, trying to warm up enough to fall asleep. It was a slow process, as the birds were already awake and chirping happily outside her window. She catnapped until 7:30 as the house began to stir around her.

She could especially hear her rambunctious son, giggling and running around. She groggily lurched out of bed. "Ssshhhhh!! Baby is still asleep!!" she urgently whispered. The noises downstairs quieted. A bit. She pulled on some clothes, and came downstairs. No energy to chat, let alone smile, she carefully set about getting her breakfast and packing her older daughter's lunch, shushing the other children as needed. When her husband left for work, he kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, grumpy pants." *kiss* Ouch. But she couldn't deny it was true.

As the children tripped over themselves, tiny feet pounding on the floor, to get to the garage to say goodbye, she told herself, "It's fine. Their breakfast can wait. They have time." When it was obvious they had found a game to play in the garage, she told herself, "It's fine. Their breakfast can wait. They have time." When she heard the crying, she simply stood still to listen.

Her rambunctious son, the one she had shushed and ordered and directed, had found a box of thumb tacks. "I was just looking at them!!" he wailed. He had forgotten he held one in his left hand when he momentarily lost his balance reaching for something behind him. He buried the tip of the tack into the thick muscle at the base of his thumb. "Owwwww" he cried. She stoically brought the kids back inside, with only the smallest "I told you so."

She marched them through the rest of their morning routine, and thought about the situation. This happened so often to her sweet son - he ignored directions, pleas, and suggestions until he ended up in tears, either hurt or holding something that he accidentally broke. She tried to explain - Heavenly Father loved him very much, but she was pretty sure He was going to continue letting him get hurt, or break things, until he eventually learned to follow directions and suggestions from his parents and leaders. He nodded, and seemed to understand. They carefully cleaned out the small prick mark on his hand. "Mom, can I watch my morning cartoon?" "Sure, hon. Sure."