Little Tikes

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"~ 1 John 3:1


I love my job. It's true!  Anyone one who knows me, knows I do.

I am a daycare provider. Five days a week I welcome 3 beautiful children into my home and do my very best to love and care for them like they were my own. I make bottles and change diapers. I read stories and kiss boo-boos. I serve lunches and tuck sweet sleepy faces in for naps. I trip over toys and wipe up spills.  I dance with Elmo and the gang, I color and glue and play with playdough. I teach and love and discipline. I truly do love my job!

My earliest memories include playing with baby dolls. I had every baby doll imaginable. Mrs. Beasley, Baby Alive, Betsey Wetsy, Holly Hobby, Raggedy Anne, I had them all! Nothing made me happier than the Sears Wishbook Catalog. I knew my Nana would let me choose any dolly I wanted for Christmas. So, its pretty obvious that I wanted to be a mom. I embraced motherhood with passion and determination and incredible joy. I'm the kind of mom who couldn't wait for school vacations so that I could have my kids back at home again with me. Yeah, I know, most of you think I'm crazy, but its true.

My own  daughters are nearly grown now. Kristi is  in college and Chelsea is  in high school. They don't need me like they used to. Don't get me wrong, they need me, it just looks different now.We are still very much a part  of each others daily  lives. Anyway,  I thought my "mommy days" were over. But God had another plan. The opportunity to start my own daycare fell into my lap. It was a chance I didn't want to pass up. To love babies again, be a support  to their parents AND get paid?   I jumped on it.

Its not a job for everyone. But for me its a perfect fit. However, there are some challenging, down right difficult days.. Yesterday was one of those days. Jack is a beautiful 4 month old. Normally  he's happy and predictable. Yesterday though,  I was faced with an infant who fussed for most of the afternoon. He was clean, he was fed, he had napped but he was UNHAPPY. I tried everything, rocking, singing, playing. No matter what I tried, I didn't do whatever it was he wanted me to do.

Isabella is an adventurous one year old, who is experiencing a bit of separation anxiety. She wouldn't let me leave her sight. The minute I turned my back, set her down  or stepped away for just a moment she WAILED. A blood curdling, "Where are you?!" screech is more like it.   Katie, the two-going-on-twelve  year old demanded. She demanded...... "something else for lunch" and she demanded  "to watch Dora NOT Barney". She demanded all day long.  She argued about putting her shoes on and taking the time to use the potty.  You see, it was a long long day.

But this morning, as I write, baby Jack  is peacefully sleeping in his bed. He looks angelic. His deep slow breathes epitomizes  relaxation. His little lips are curled into a precious smile. Bella and Katie are playing silly peek-a-boo games with each other and completely cracking each other up.The sound of their laughter is incredibly beautiful and  contagious. I can't help but laugh too!  Every now and then,  one or both, will approach me with a spontaneous hug or a kiss. Immediately, I have forgotten yesterday's chaos and exhaustion.

I wonder if that's sort of how God looks down on us?

Do we appear as small children, immature in our wants and reactions and behaviors?  We fuss and demand and wail. We want what we want....and we want it NOW! We throw our tantrums about what we want God to do, when we want him to do it and how we expect him to do it too. He just sits there patiently, maybe with an eye roll or a shake of his head. He knows.....he knows it will pass and no matter how poorly we behave he'll love us regardless. He forgets our tantrums and our bad decisions and simply delights in our being.

I imagine he looks down on us and chuckles.....often.  He marvels at us when we do obey him. He laughs when we entertain him with our antics. He takes joy in knowing we are his children and there's nothing we can ever do that will change his love. How great is that?

Duty calls........there's a fort of blankets we need to explore and a tower of blocks we need to knock over and rebuild!


Hugs
Michelle

*childrens names have been changed to protect their anonymity