“Mess-free” Color Wonder, a black eye, and a 4T sleeper

Motherhood rule #3768 – The words “mess free” do not apply to any product a 2-year-old boy could possibly get his hands on. I was reminded of this simple, yet crucial, rule just this evening by my sweet boy Shea.

I had slipped downstairs to get just a couple things off the computer. Shea and his ever-watchful big sister Megan were upstairs entertaining themselves. I thought, what could go wrong; I’ll be gone just a minute (rule #107, don’t ever let yourself believe that there is such a thing as a harmless, unsupervised minute).

Well, I’m not sure how it all started, but Megan’s Color Wonder art kit got brought out, Megan came downstairs, and Shea was left to his own devices for said “minute.” If you’re unfamiliar with Color Wonder, it really is a wonderful product. They make the special markers that work only on the special Color Wonder paper and nothing else. The markers look white (or colorless) if used on regular paper, clothing, skin etc. In this kit Megan got for her birthday, it also includes Color Wonder finger paint, which is also white (colorless) “stuff” that is kind of like jelly – or hair gel … You can probably see where I’m going with this …

When I came upstairs, Shea had scooped all the gel from several of the finger paint color wells and rubbed it through his hair. He was frustrated because he didn’t like the feel of it on his hands and wanted me to clean them. I was horrified at the sight of his new, spiked and greasy hair-do.

I tried to wash it, but rule #4385 states that stuff like that never washes out. With Megan it was Vaseline; with Shea, it’s Color Wonder finger paint. He’s asleep now, but he was up a few minutes ago for an extra middle-of-the-night snuggle, and the gel is starting to dry and get crusty. Maybe we’ll try washing it again tomorrow, or we’ll see if it flakes out throughout the day. Either way I’ll be sure to get a picture for your viewing pleasure.

Again, if I had my digital camera yet, I could post it right away, but as things stand it’ll be a while. When you do see it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the funky hair, the black eye he got when he fell at church on Sunday and hit his cheek on a kneeler, and the super-cute, size 4T! Buzz LightYear sleeper he’s wearing. And you know, I haven’t taken the picture yet, but I know he’ll be smiling from ear to ear and melting my heart and causing me to forget at least half of the standard mom rules. :-)

Busy, busy ...

"I work for god." St. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23-24, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

I am blessed with work ... idle hands are the devil's tools ... those cliches, I've found to be true. My new boss commented today about how much happier I seem in my new position than I was in my old. And on this day, the busiest since I started in technical support, I find that it is true.

There was a time when I was unchallenged and unhappy in my work - not in my home, family, church work - but in my daily, make-some-money, feed-the-family work. I remember looking back over the previous year and not seeing any remarkable accomplishments, no desire to tackle new challenges. I was being reprimanded for tardiness and too much time on the internet. Things seemed to be spiraling downwards.

I felt a bit hopeless and without clear purpose or direction, but in it all, I prayed and trusted that God had a plan for my life. I was just getting a little bit impatient waiting for things to change. I applied for several new jobs in my company and found no success, until God opened the door to this position, which I believe is exactly where I'm meant to be. Thank you, Jesus!

There was a point where I could barely stand to read the passage from Colossians because I felt so disappointed in myself, but God is faithful. And I am so happy to be in a position where I can work hard and give my all. To work, to be challenged, to give unto the Lord ... whatta blessing!

Oh, my group just received this email from the head of another tech support group. :-)
"Congratulations to the Unit Controls group…for taking 105 calls today with an average call answer time of 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Very impressive!

Note: This was with half a staff due to split day training!"