A Mother Can't Relax Until...

...all her children are tucked in bed for the night.  And not only tucked in bed, but also asleep!  Or at least, old enough and mature enough to not keep popping out of bed for another drink of water or trip to the bathroom.

Until all four of my sons are out for the night, I am still on:  on-duty, that is.  Most nights, I'm OK with that; but some nights, it's more of a challenge; and when I feel like all my energy and patience are gone, I have to remind myself that God will give me a little more, enough to see me through every encounter with my children, so that they can go peacefully to sleep with happy thoughts of their mother's tenderness, rather than sad thoughts of their mother's frustration.

Nights when we're out in the evening are sometimes the hardest of all.  For a woman who's an introvert by nature and who has had plenty(!) of people time already that day and who knows that her children are wound up by being over at a friends' house for a Bible study but who can hardly wait until the house is quiet and she can sit down and be still and just think, that half hour or so from arrival at home until all the children are quiet in bed can be excruciating.  "Josiah, it's not time to be reading a Redwall book on the couch; you need to get ready for bed."  "David, what are you doing in Tobin's room?  I asked you to do three things:  teeth, bathroom, pajamas.  Until you do those, don't even think about doing anything else."  "Tobin, I understand that you're tired [I add in my head but don't say it aloud, "and on the verge of a huge temper tantrum"], but we can't read the whole Curious George book tonight."  "Shav, are you thirsty?  Has anyone seen Shav's sippy cup?  Is it still in the minivan?"  And so it goes.

If only I had as much energy as they do...  ;-)