Sunday Motherly Musings, and cute things Lando is doing
For the past few days, I have been a "single" mother in the fact that Austin is already in South Korea and we are joining him on Friday. I haven't ever had to do this for more than a few days, and usually I am either with my family or his family so at least I have help there. I have an amazing church family here to lighten my load and my spirits, but man do I respect mothers who are forced to raise their children alone. What an act of pure love, determination and strength. In India, Landon was in a naughty streak. I think Austin's schedule was hard for him, and he was biting, kicking, scratching, squealing, screeching, screaming too much. When I learned that Landon and I would be staying behind due to a new company travel policy, I was worried that I would not be able to take care of Landon in Chicago, much less on an airplane for 16 hours as we fly alone to South Korea without having a mental and perhaps physical breakdown.
In our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church as it is sometimes called) we believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior- meaning that he suffered and died for our sins. We believe He also experienced every hard, painful, and undesirable thing that could happen to us so that He could better help us through our struggles and hard times in life. This power is called the enabling power of the Atonement, and if we pray to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, we can receive help in whatever difficult situation we may be in. If you want to learn more about what we believe, click here. At first when I prayed about this specific situation, I thought perhaps the company would allow an exception that would enable us to travel with Austin to Seoul. This did not happen. What did was miraculous.
Landon tamed himself into a typical mischievous toddler instead of the abusive little demon he was being in India. He still runs away sometimes, and he still is doing a few naughty things here and there, but my patience, capacity for love and understanding for him have increased to make these few weeks actually enjoyable. I miss my husband and I know Landon really misses his dad, but we are not just struggling through the days and counting the hours- we are having fun together. I know that this was an answer to my prayer, and that I am being helped every day to be the kind of mother I want to be, because I prayed and asked for help.
I think an important thing with changing time zones and hotels and having airplane rides is to try to keep routine intact. One of my new favorite things Landon and I do together is our bedtime routine. After bath, Landon picks out some books. We have a limited selection- whatever can fit in the suitcase, but he has names for all of them and even has memorized a few words here and there. It is fun! Then it is time for "bus". Which is code for teeth brushing. Teeth brushing was becoming such a struggle, and I started singing songs to Landon during this time to try to make it easier. The only song he wanted me to sing was "Wheels on the Bus". After awhile, the only things he wanted me to sing were the cat and dog on the bus and then make the noises. I pause and as I'm brushing his teeth, Landon will make cat noises to fill in the blanks in the song. The joke comes when I say "the dog on the bus" because then he "meows" again because he thinks it is more fun than barking. Then he laughs. Sometimes, when I start with another feature of the bus, he will yell out "Tat!" which is cat, and "dog" before I'm finished with cat. It is fun.
Landon has recently decided to go on a hunger strike. Sometimes he eats a lot. Most of the time, he doesn't eat much. He wants to pick what he eats, and then even sometimes he doesn't want what he picked. It is difficult. My genius mother suggested that maybe he is getting his 2-year molars. The pediatrician said that they usually don't come in until 2.5-3 years old, but Landon was so early with his other teeth that lo and behold, I felt the back of his mouth (without getting bitten- another MIRACLE) and there is a molar poking through! Why are moms so smart?
Landon tamed himself into a typical mischievous toddler instead of the abusive little demon he was being in India. He still runs away sometimes, and he still is doing a few naughty things here and there, but my patience, capacity for love and understanding for him have increased to make these few weeks actually enjoyable. I miss my husband and I know Landon really misses his dad, but we are not just struggling through the days and counting the hours- we are having fun together. I know that this was an answer to my prayer, and that I am being helped every day to be the kind of mother I want to be, because I prayed and asked for help.
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| This is from India, I'm not sure if I've posted it yet... |
Landon has recently decided to go on a hunger strike. Sometimes he eats a lot. Most of the time, he doesn't eat much. He wants to pick what he eats, and then even sometimes he doesn't want what he picked. It is difficult. My genius mother suggested that maybe he is getting his 2-year molars. The pediatrician said that they usually don't come in until 2.5-3 years old, but Landon was so early with his other teeth that lo and behold, I felt the back of his mouth (without getting bitten- another MIRACLE) and there is a molar poking through! Why are moms so smart?
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