When first talking about marriage and family, Chris and I differed greatly in one area. Children. Not so greatly that one of us wanted 8, and the other didn't want any. Basically, I wanted two boys. He, on the other hand, wanted two girls.
I wanted boys because I wanted to stay as far away from the prissy girl thing as I could. Dress up and dollies didn't sound fun at all. Plus the hair and bows, shoes and dresses. Then later the PMS and all that glory. Not to mention, girls are generally less tough and resilient than boys are. I wanted kids that could fall and not be phased. I wanted children that could take whatever came their little tiny way. Wrestling, bloody noses, black eyes- all those things were way less intimidating to me than all the 'ish' that comes with little girls.
Clearly, God loves Christopher more than He loves me. Okay, that's potentially untrue. Maybe God just knows me more than I know myself. Either way, clearly we have two very tiny little females running our lives.
I wouldn't have it any other way. Wanna know why? Because very often, I am reminded that God gave me a very comical dose of what I had desired in a family. Sure, Lorelei and Addison, in their slight little frames, are very girlie and enjoy dressing up and playing house with the prissiest of them all. Yet somehow, at the very same time, they are rough, rowdy, competitive, and physical. While the scales of estrogen and testosterone lean heavily towards the feminine side, they are by no means delicate.
I realized this comical little 'gift' from God a while ago when Addison's finger got cut off, and she was left with exposed bone under an entire arm bandage while we waited to see how it would grow back. One evening a couple of days after the finger incident, Lorelei and Addison were running through the house tackling each other. That's right, just running and tackling over and over and over. Of course bumped heads and bloody noses ensued. I still couldn't get them to stop! I felt like I had two teenage boys instead of one and two year old little girls.
Things haven't changed one bit. Another of their favorite games is pulling each other off the couch by their ankles as fast as they can. Lorelei grabs Addison's feet, says "Addison, let me help you!", and goes running the other direction, causing Addison to slam onto the floor hitting not only her little tushy, but her head. They have a good laugh and switch. They run around playing chase. Instead of tagging, they push or punch. They always think all these games are hilarious, and believe you me, we do NOT encourage this.
Today they were playing 'crazy dancing'. They hold hands, jump, spin, and wiggle all around until one of them falls from dizziness or trips, yanking the other down on top of them. Well, today's game didn't end so funny as Lorelei's elbow let out a loud pop and she was suddenly not laughing. She said her arm hurt, so I had her sit on the couch and relax for a while. She couldn't move it without the assistance of her other hand, and each time she tried, more tears would come.
I gave it some time and finally decided to head to the doctors since she was still in tears. At the mention of going to the doctors, she said she felt fine. Clever. I asked her to show me she was fine by doing a jumping jack. Her eyes got big and she emphatically shook her head no. With that, we went to have her checked out. Every time the doctor moved her arm or put pressure on it, her eyes welled up with big tears, but she refused to cry there. She patiently sat there with tears in her eyes, breathing deeply until they were done. She was so grown up.
After X-rays and two different doctors examining her, they deemed her arm just severely sprained. I am so thankful that's all it is. So is she. While there waiting for the X-Ray tech to call us back, she asked, "Mom, can I be done being brave now and go home?". I think she was afraid she'd have to get a shot. When I finally convinced her that wouldn't be needed she perked up quite a bit.
Lorelei is a little trooper. I love this little girl so much.
1 comment:
<3 your family!
Post a Comment