on parenting and firefighting

I sometimes struggle with making decisions. Maybe I've mentioned that before. This drives my hubby batty, and I think even my sister and my parents (though they don't have to deal with me nearly as often as my hubby does--lucky for them). I used to be called indecisive and that's what I used to be.

But now? Now, I make decisions everyday. For everyone else. Hundreds of them. Everyday. Like, what I'm feeding my family for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and who's getting which plate, (which leads to someone not being thrilled with my choice), what I'm wearing, and what 2 of the 4 of my littles are wearing, where we are going and what we are doing. Everyday. That does not include all of the many other things that pop up quickly and I'm forced to make a decision.

So, sometimes, when it comes to date nights, or lunches out, or which would you rather do questions, I'd just rather not have to make one. more. decision. Ya feel me? Anyone?

But what does this have to do with fire-fighting and pareting, already? Let me tell you. Sometimes, things run really smoothly in our house. Littles get home from school, find a snack, do homework, run outside to play, come inside to play, go back outside, come inside to get bathed, have dinner, read/play, get in bed, good night and sweet dreams. But, I'd say 98 out of 100 times, that ain't happenin' around these parts!

Often, I find myself putting out fires. Not literal fires (yet!) praise the Lord! But lots of fires that surround me all at once. And I'll admit, that occasionally, I find myself being suffocated by the smoke, too! Let me just paint a hypothetical scenario. . .Our 2 oldest boys have been told to go get showered before dinner.  Baby Way is playing on his playmat and starts crying (unusual) so I head over to check on him, when I hear screaming, then yelling and then crying down the hallway from our older 2 boys. It seems that one of them pushed the other too hard and one of them has an injury. Gotta check on that, and then address the heart of the situation, just as Miles comes inside crying because he fell off his scooter and now has blood running down his leg! And, now I'm hearing screaming that the shower water is too hot! All of this happening as pots are boiling and the phone is ringing!

Parenting and fire-fighting go hand in hand. Some fires are bigger than others and we have to make quick decisions about which fires are which and which fires need to be extinguished first! No fire is    ever the exact same. Sometimes, it's rescuing a kitty from a tree, sometimes it's a 5 alarm fire and  even sometimes, it's saving lives. But almost everyday, parenting is like fire-fighting. I think it takes a strong person and someone special to be a firefighter. They have to love their job to keep fighting those fires. And parents? Well, it takes a strong and special person to be a parent too. I definitely know that my hubby and I are blessed and don't ever want to stop making decisions or putting out fires until our littles are ready to be firefighters too!