Even Ninja's Need a Nap Sometimes

My two youngest warriors have been pretending to be Ninja's lately.  They dress-up in the hand-me-down karate uniforms they have. They have also been checking out every LEGO Ninjago book that the library has. (By dress-up I mean wear for 3 consecutive days in a row and to bed, until I pry it off their body to wash where they promptly retrieve it from the dryer and put it on again).

There has been a lot of wrestling, leaping, and kicking around here.

However, the other day one of my little Ninja's was extremely grumpy.

Let me just tell you, grumpy Ninja's are no fun.

 

 

I was running out of patience with my little guy, so I did what most sane mothers will do in an effort to keep their sanity, and keep their child alive to see his next birthday.

So, I sent him to bed. 

Come on, sometimes a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do.

After a bit, I noticed it was pretty quiet in the direction of his bedroom, so I went to go check on him. 

I found him all snuggled up with his blankie and animals, fast asleep. Let's face it Momma's, when you see your fearsome Ninja all snuggled up with his special buddies, it melts all your previous frustrations away.  

It's called the power of the power of the warm fuzzy.

I also realized, I haven't seen my little boy sleeping in the daylight in a long time.  Nap time is a thing of the past here in this house. 

-Pause for a moment of silence-

Yeah, anyway when my little Ninja woke up, his mood was considerably improved.  

He of course claimed that he hadn't really fallen asleep. 

Whatever

 

The truth is, we could all benefit from a little nap (i.e. alone time), once in awhile.  However, like my son, we can't always make that call on our own.  Sometimes it's because we can't see our attitude the same way others can see it.  Sometimes it's because we think we're gonna miss something important.  And sometimes it's because we think we would be neglecting our responsibilities.  However, by removing ourselves from our normal routine for a short time, we can come back renewed, refreshed, and with a better attitude. 

Now that's something this Ninja Momma can benefit from.   

I realized recently that I was behaving a lot like my boy.  Grumpy, a bad listener, quick to lose my temper, and just generally not happy.

The fact is, I needed to be put on a time-out.

  So this week, we've been taking a break from our normal routine because Momma needs an attitude adjustment. Through my quiet time with the Lord each morning, I realized, I was setting the poor tone that was pervading my home.  Part of the reason my boys were frustrating me so much, is because I was so easily frustrated. 

So, I've been praying about my attitude, evaluating whether I really do need a night off, and trying to do a better job of  doing what's right when it comes to taking care of my family. 

Guess what?  Today, my little Ninja's played together better than they have in a long time.  Seems like when Momma has her attitude in check, everyone else is happier too. 

I'm glad that God showed me the truth about my attitude.  I'm glad that He is willing to help me change it.  I'm also glad that he loves my babies even more than I do and no matter what, He will help me be the exact Momma they need.

As long as I'm willing to take a time-out every once in awhile and listen to Him.

Boys and Pictures = Comic Adventures

 There are times when I give up the hope that I will ever get these 3 boys of mine to sit still long enough for me to get a good picture of them.

Apparently, they equate sitting for a picture with torture of the cruelest kind.

Which then means it turns into torture for me as well.

I mean really, how hard could it be just to look at the camera and smile, right? 

I guess for boys, it's pretty hard. 

Let's look at some examples of how my boys have changed in their approach, so to speak, of having their pictures taken over the years.

I used to get smiles like this:

Which morphed into smiles like this:

Which have now become faces like this:

What is a picture taking Momma to do?

Taking pictures of my own kids brings out the ugly side to my mothering. I have cajoled, bribed, threatened, manipulated, scolded, yelled, employed the power of the guilt trip, and done just about everything within my mommy powers to get my boys to sit for a nice photograph for me.

I succumb to these tactics after asking nicely fails, of course.

I know this isn't good.

I know these are bad qualities.

I know a good, patient, loving mother wouldn't ever do any of the above listed things.

I am not always a good mother.

At least, I ask for forgiveness later. 

Because I am a loving mother.

So why do you think that sitting for a photo is so hard for my boys? Could it be because they have been staring into the black orb of my lens since the day they popped free of my womb?

Hmmm.

When all is said and done, they finally manage to pull themselves together long enough for me to get a couple of good pictures. (Thanks goodness for fast shutter speeds!)

Then later, when I've calmed down  I have time to download the pictures onto the computer, I have plenty of opportunities for a few laughs.

Oh man, my life is never dull.

Never.

And I guess, in spite of it all, I wouldn't have it any other way.

But if you have any good tips for getting boys to enjoy having their picture taken, shoot 'em my way, will ya?

Thanks,

Jana