A + + +!!!

Ever find yourself on the freeway, just beboppin' down the road, and realize that there is a highway patrol car behind you? You have no idea how long he's been there and panic sets in! But as your eyes dart to the speedometer your pulse returns to normal and a smile crosses your face. You just passed an on-road test, you weren't speeding and therefore pass the pop quiz by the policeman that's been tailing you.

That's how I felt the other day when my babysitter showed up.

Ryan had been gone on business for a week and the kids and I were trying our best to not kill each other. We'd survived the loooong lonely weekend and it was now Monday evening and time for me to leave for my ladies bible study group. The kids had been running around the house off and on all day, and consequently I'd been telling them to 'stop running in the house!' off and on all day. So as I was in the bathroom getting ready to leave, I heard them running, AGAIN! Inside I felt like yelling and screaming at them, but instead I walked out of my room and calmly told them to go to their rooms. Not two seconds later the doorbell rang. It was the babysitter. She had rang the doorbell once already and I didn't hear it. The kids had been trying to quickly find a place to hide (hence the running) after they heard it the first time.

As this bit of news hit me, I realized that if I had chosen to lash out at the kids with pent up anger of day-long frustration then my babysitter would have heard me. No doubt. And so I feel like a passed a parenting pop quiz! By the grace of God, I did not yell or scream at my kids. I chose to speak calmly to them. Therefore I was rewarded with the satisfaction that I was not embarrassed when I opened the door to my babysitter!

Praise God, I passed!!!!