Mirrors

Boo! Yeah, we didn't really do Halloween this year.

Perhaps it's the Hurricane aftermath, perhaps the new chill in the air (How did it get to be November/winter so fast!?), perhaps it's the week I spent trapped in a small apartment with two energetically bored children... right now I'm experiencing a bit of low in my parenting self-esteem.

Or perhaps it was this: the other day Lily was playing with her dolls. She put her babies to sleep in her bed.  Then stood outside her bedroom door and yelled loudly "Now Go To Sleep!" "Don't Get Up!" over and over again.

Or this: A few days after the hurricane Daniel insisted on carrying his ipod around in his pocket.  "I want to look at it all the time, just like Mommy and Daddy."

My children are being mirrors for me, and I'm not really happy with what I look like (or sound like).  Right now I'm looking like an impatient, irritable, yelling i-phone addict. Yup.  Their mirrors are pretty accurate. They aren't unhappy with me- Lily wakes up each morning still smiling, still wanting to snuggle in our warm bed even if bedtime was less than peaceful.  Daniel would LOVE to spend all day playing with his ipod (or watching TV, or youtube or playing computer games).

The saving grace is that apparently my mumble cursing is still inaudible to my children.  There are only a few phrases that I wish my new-to-English son hadn't picked up. Namely, "Jesus!" and "Seriously?!" and "Are you kidding me!?" His first grade teacher hasn't complained about these to me. Yet.

Tomorrow we all go back to our normal routines. Everyone is healthy, everyone's school/office is open.  I've got dinner prepped in the fridge and clean clothes laid out.  Lily even has a new school uniform dress! (Oh yes, she wears a uniform to day care. And has homework. I love her daycare.)

The holiday season is roaring down upon us. Winter, and its blizzards and storms, is coming.  The season of drawing closer, of reconnecting with our family and our faith, is near.  I'm looking forward to it. Here is hoping that in the next mirror the children hold up for me I like what I see.