The Zoo

Today was one of those days. You know the kind I'm talking about? The ones where you just need a cup of coffee, only to find out Starbucks is closed for the first time in five years for training, or you go to pour cereal, but you're out of milk? It started off decently enough, but somewhere along the ho-hum of the daily routine, it all went south. The dog was getting on my every nerve, my daughter was unfolding the laundry again. Then we went to the store and she proceeded to open the limes and start eating the peels while screaming excitedly at everyone that passed by. I don't know if it was the wind, or the dog, or Em, or my hormones or what, but it was just an "Alexander" day (for those of you not up on your children stories, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day is the book I'm referring to).

So we've established that it's not been a good day, and Em wakes up from her nap 30 minutes into it soaking wet. So I changed her, calmed her down, and put her back in her crib. She nearly fell asleep on the changing pad, so I just put a fresh diaper on, and left it at that. Fifteen minutes later, I hear her crying again, so I go back to her room to find out what went wrong, only to be met by a wall of offensive smell, my daughter naked, and poop smeared everywhere (her, crib, sheets, walls, everywhere). I picked her up and ran to the bathroom where I lost my lunch, and she was still screaming. Then, tried to clean her up by first spraying as much as I could off her, losing my second breakfast, and then scrubbing her with soap and water. She wasn't happy through any of this and made sure I knew it, but again, it went with the theme of the day. I took her downstairs because I couldn't handle the smell any longer, got out spare clothes and diapers from the diaper bag and began changing her into them. I was just about done getting her ready, when I again smelled the offensive odor. I started checking everywhere I could think, the towel, the shoes, her diaper, and then I realized that I had scrubbed, but apparently it wasn't enough to get the smell out. So, I stripped her again, put her in the kitchen sink and this time used a regular washcloth with twice the amount of soap. I scrubbed between fingers and toes, double checked each part of her, and then rinsed. Again, she didn't agree with my coarse of action, but again, it was going with everything else today. I put her into her gym cloths from this morning, and at this point Todd walked in. I just pointed upstairs and walked away to give Em to a neighbor so we could clean everything up. It took over an hour of both of us working to get all the pacifiers, stuffed animals, books and crib cleaned and all the washable things in the washer. It was one of those times where I wondered why on Earth I decided to have a child... and then we were putting her down for bed. Todd was reading her a story and I was finishing picking up her room and putting her bed back together. The book was I'll Love You for Always. I got the book from my Bible study girls in Illinois, so it's sentimental in that way, but the theme of the book is that no matter what this little boy does to drive his mother crazy throughout his life, and no matter how many times she wants to leave him at the zoo, or feels like she's in the zoo, when her little boy is sleeping, she remembers that she'll "love you for always, like you forever, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." I'm not a crier, but I am pregnant and it had been one of those days... but in some way, it was like God was using those girls who meant so much to me in Bourbonnais, to help continue to support me and remind me that every mom has those moments. So even though my support system here is still in the 'construction' phase and I don't really have those people anymore, God took care of it one year ago in Laurie's house when He told the girls to throw me a shower and give me that book. We serve an awesome God and I still can't believe how neatly everything comes together.

Pastor Deborah: Who would have thought four years ago that the newlywed of three weeks that approached you about wanting a Bible study, and the one that you thought should be a leader, would bring me to those gals, and that baby shower, and that book, which would remind me here in Africa that I'm still a good mom, even if I did want to send my daughter (with her dog) to the zoo.