"This Kid is Driving Me Crazy!"

My child is crazy! 

My baby seems to be in the worst phase yet! 
He's teething, he has a cold, and he's making me crazy. I have slobber on my shoulder, I have snot on my face, and I'm so tired I can't see straight.

He's not sleeping during the day and he's not sleeping through the night. A perfect storm... Tired parents, tired baby, exhaustion and frustration running high... We're all sick right along with him and trying to accomplish even regular tasks feels like pulling teeth. It's a phase, I remind myself. It will pass. I try to keep in mind those truths but I still feel trapped at home. I still feel clawed on and overstimulated and worn.

Then that special book LOVE YOU FOREVER comes to mind. Where it says: 

"The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, 'This kid is driving me CRAZY!' "

I feel like that mother. 
Then she goes to his bed at night and sings:

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living 

my baby you'll be."

And my heart melts. I complain, especially in phases like this. It is HARD, no doubt about it, but I think sometimes I forget what an honor to love my baby like I do. What a gift to have this precious child, who is definitely driving me crazy, to love and comfort and care for in his difficult moments. 

I have repeatedly thought of Lee's blog about how we are special in how we are able comfort our children. How they come to us, and though we often struggle with the giving of ourselves in that moment, what a gift it is. I remember that even as my child is fussy and wants to be held, every moment of the day it seems, I get to be the one who loves him forever, likes him for always, and he'll always be my baby.

How special is that. How beautiful is that! What a gift that for all of my children's lives, I get to be their mom!

-Joy

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