Suffer little children…even your own.

I have to admit that I have been pretty impatient today with my kids. I don’t know why–being overtired is a good guess, but I think it can also be a handy excuse. Regardless of the cause, though, today it was a bit of a struggle to be patient with all three of my kids.

Really, all anybody did today was–be kids. There was a lot of noise today, a lot of loud play and a lot of loud bickering. I’m usually pretty good about letting kids be kids, but today I felt myself getting annoyed a little too easily.

I’d love to say that I discovered an easy remedy some time around noon or 1pm, and the day transformed itself from a series of irritations to a procession of joys. But no such luck. Instead, here I am, at 11:30pm, wondering how I might have diffused my irritation earlier in the day.

Nope, still no answer….

I do know this, though–regardless of how frustrated or exasperated I may feel now, it really won’t be too long from now when all three of my children will be grown and out on their own. My oldest is less than four years away from college–and the “baby” is nearly halfway there.

So suffer away, I say–in every sense of the word. If I can’t melt away the irritation, at least I can claim it as my own for this one day and still capturethis day with my children as it unfolded, even in my flawed and less than gracious acceptance of what it had to offer.