Right Under My Nose

I can not say this enough! The Lord is watching over my children in spite of myself! I am sure that many of you feel the same. Ever since I can remember, I have been in tune with with His watchful eye over me, and now even more so as a mommy. There have been huge manifestations of this over the last 37 years, and I am so grateful for those. Yet, what I find most comforting, and that I am most grateful for, is the protection that my family receives in small ways on a daily basis.

Trust me, I always have a story to tell with 7 children. To me there are very few certain things in life, and in the Jones house, we can always count on a large grocery bill, lots of laundry, something always needing to be cleaned or fixed, mom never having her own drinking cup, private bath time, lots of crying and laughter, sick kids, and never enough eyes on Emerson. That girl came to me as my 6th, because I probably would have been too strung out to have another!

Don't get me wrong, I love her. She is so darn cute most of the time and is super sweet. She talks up a storm at home, but never makes a peep anywhere else. In our house, we often refer to her as "silent, but deadly." In fact, when she is talking at home, that is a good thing. It is when she goes silent, that we get very worried. I have complained to my husband about her antics and my rough days with her. His reply has always been the same, that I need to watch her better, and with little sympathy to boot! Sticking my tongue out and fingers in my ears. No, I find the best word to describe Emerson, is calculating. She waits for the precise moment that you are on the phone, in the bathroom, changing a diaper, cooking, or just plain busy with something to do her deeds. She is always watching for her moment.

To make my point, there was on time, Aaron had a huge Hershey Chocolate Bar he brought home from work. Not the large kind, that you get at the check out, but the one 4 x's that size. He placed in the cabinet and thought nothing about it. Emerson saw the bar, knew it was there, asked about the bar, and was told not to touch it. She patiently waited all day, never once trying to get into it. In fact, Aaron knowing her and my complaints, was pleasantly surprised at his great parenting! Ha! All the while, and little did he know, she was calculating getting her prize right under his very nose. Five hours of "great" and uneventful parenting had past as Aaron tended her. He really never left her side, which for a man, is unusual. Not exactly good at multi-tasking. He got her down for a late nap, thought she was asleep, and went to take a shower. Here comes his insert foot in mouth moment!!!! Drum roll please.

While Aaron was enjoying his hot shower, Emerson was faking being asleep. She finally had a moment to seize her prize. Now remember, she waited 5 hours for it. When Aaron got out of the shower, he saw that she was missing and went looking for her. He found her behind the bar with 1/2 of the chocolate bar gone. She tried to convince him that she didn't do it. It was literally written all over her face and everywhere else! Chalk that outfit up to a lost cause. Aaron has become a little more sympathetic to my complaints as of late, having had the pleasure of tending her more with the new baby in the house. My favorite part of the day was coming home and hearing about his day with her and saying, "sounds to me, like you need to watch her more," tongue in cheek.

Well, today was a another crazy morning. I am not feeling well, had to get kids ready for school, and the baby was fussy. I was making a bottle for him, while Emerson was puttering in the kitchen. Feeling confident and thinking she was behaving, I continued to wipe down counters and sweep the floor. I still had an hour or so before she got her gears going. After all, it was only 7 a.m. and she still had sleep in her eye.

Wrong! Remember the silent, but deadly description that I mentioned earlier? Well, Emerson was standing behind the center island, being all too quite for herself. I put down the broom and peeked over the counter and freaked!!!! Emerson had 3 bobby pins, without the rubber tips, shoved into the electrical outlet located on the island. I screamed, she screamed, and we all screamed; including baby. I was so shocked, scared and grateful at the same time. Once again, the Lord had his eye on one of my children.

I have raised 5 of the 7 children past the stage where I have to worry about such things. Sure there have been times were one or two have tried to stick keys, scissors , or other larger objects into the outlets. I always freaked, put the items out of reach, and bought outlet covers. I also thanked my lucky starts that they were not electrocuted. However, never, in my wildest dreams, would I think that Emerson would use 3 bobby pins to lift off the cover and jam them in, right before my watchful eye! I can barely get those stupid covers off myself. She is one of a kind, that girl. Did I mention she is only two?

I hope by sharing this, that one day, Emerson will read about her antics. In doing so, my goal is that she will know of the love that I have for my Father in Heaven and of the gratitude that feel for the protection and comfort that he has afforded me and my family. I hope that these examples of his love, big or small, will fortify her faith and her need to lean on him, while rearing her own family. My other greatest hope, is that she will have at least one child, who she will call her "silent, but deadly," one and apologizes to me weekly! I pray that she will have the testimony to lean on her Father in Heaven for projection and guidance, because if the child is anything like her, she is going to need it. Lots if it! That, and a large dose of Tylenol.

As for when she comes to me and complains about her wild child I will be ready. I sit here now, feeding my baby and writing this, feeling myself getting almost giddy with excitement thinking of my tongue in cheek reply, "well, Emerson, these things wouldn't happen if you were watching her better." I will laugh and chuckle knowing that at that moment, she will probably be sticking out her tongue and poking her fingers in her ears.