The Roller Coaster of Bell's Mind

I have always said that the first year of life
of a new little person in our home
is always one of my better times for
having a schedule and sticking to a routine.
I am so NOT a routine person by nature.
I'm more of a
fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants
type person. To the bone.
But the great thing about having babies is that
I don't know how to do that without putting them
on a schedule. I'm not one of these hyper-scheduling people
who plans out my day in fifteen minute segments.
No, no. Don't get me wrong.
You won't see me stopping in the middle of the second
verse of a song because Singing Time is over
(don't laugh---I know someone who actually was this way).
And Singing Time? Hello?
Singing Time here on the homestead is from
when you wake up until you go to sleep at our house.
(Do other home schooling moms constantly have to say
"please stop singing" when they're up to their armpits
in school work? Even while I am asking them to be quiet
during school time, I know I am the one who,
without meaning to, will be breaking into song
in fourteen seconds. We're just not
a quiet bunch.)

So it starts at the hospital,
this "schedule" that I put my babies on.
And I don't know if it's the best thing to do or not,
but it is what we have done and it has worked for us.
I have been able to nurse all of my babies.
They have all slept through the night
in a decent amount of time
(usually around 8-9 weeks, but with Sweet T is was
three months and his father was going crazy
--I'd like to think we've grown since then).
They've all been healthy and happy babies.
And life has carried on while they were on the scene,
so I think it has worked for us.
Oh, and obviously having a baby didn't make me
insane enough to say "I'll never do that again."
Whenever I hear a woman with one child saying
in a concrete tone of voice that she will not have
another baby, (not saying like "we only want one" but
"I will not go through all of that again") it just makes me sad.
Because I wonder what part of her equation was
so bad that it made her come to this determined conclusion.

Anyway, I'm just saying,
I like the schedule for babies.
I embrace the schedule.
I take the schedule out to lunch
and give it occasional back rubs.
The schedule is my friend.
It's all I have ever done
and I wouldn't know how to do it any other way.

We are at a very easy stage with Baby J right now.
He has milk at 8am, 12 noon, 4pm, and 8pm.
He also eats three times a day (at regular meal times).
He goes to sleep right after that night time nursing and
I get him up to feed him for that first morning feeding.
He is at that stage where he is ready and waiting for his
morning nap. They always seem to want/need/love the
morning nap at this age (he's 8 months).
And we have fallen into the pattern of doing most all of
our "everybody together at the kitchen table" schooling
by the time that 10 am nap time rolls around.
By that time, Sweet T is done with all his "paper work."
Today I brought him upstairs with me when I put
Baby J down for his nap. Sweet T is watching a
Leapfrog video in my room. It's best to remove him
(as far away as possible) from Lovely K and Big E
while they continue with their school work.
Of course they always have to bemoan the fact
that they wish they were still in kindergarten
and had easy work and constructive play.
Boo hoo.
But don't we all do that through life?
The elementary kids are thinking how easy the
kindergartner has is. The high schoolers are thinking
how easy the elementary students have it. The college
kid thinks how easy things were in high school.
The harried mom of young children thinks how easy her
life was in college. The empty nester remembers how
easy life was when her kids were little,
under her feet at home.
It goes on and on.

We all tend to think that way,
but hopefully you, like me, have these
moments of clarity
when you kind of get a whiff of
The Big Picture floating on the breeze
and you stop and look around you and soak it in.
See the good things that are around you.
Appreciate the beauty that is there.
Enjoy the moment before it passes.
Maybe things were better in the past,
maybe you are completely surrounded and overwhelmed
by your own Big Stinky Situation,
maybe you are in pain or you're lonely
or you're depressed.
There is beauty in each day.
There is always a reason to smile.
The God of the Universe is waiting
to show you His grace and mercy.
You may not get out of the consequences
for your past choices or behavior.
You may have to remain in your Big Stink.
You may not have relief for your pain.
But look above.
The sun is in the sky.
The heavens have not fallen to the earth.
The Lord of all creation is seated on His throne
and you can call out to Him.
You can take your praise and thanksgiving to Him,
but you can also go to Him with your pain
and your sadness and your grief and regret.
Take it all to Him.
He will forgive you.
He will help you.
He will lift you up out of your pit.
He will set you on the right path.
He will guide you.
He loves you right now, where you are.
He will never leave you or forsake you.
He will be that friend that is closer than a brother.
You can be happy in Him.


.....hmmm....how did I get to preaching
from talking about baby schedules?
I sometimes can't ride on my own train of thought.
It can be more like a roller coaster than a train.
Oh well.
Maybe somebody needed to hear that today.
Maybe somebody will be encouraged by those words.

Have a good day, Dear Reader.
Make it a good one.