Things My Children Already Know

If you have children, you know that the mother's job never stops. You never have sick days or days off really. You're a janitor, chauffeur, cook, maid, and teacher 24/7.  So, to make your life easier, I have made a list of things you do not have to do for or teach to your child. These are things that come pre-programmed in them when your child is born. Just a few less things for you to worry about in your daily regimen.

• First things first. You don't have to teach them that the alarm in the morning means it's time to get up. And by alarm I mean the sound of the toilet flushing at 5 a.m. when you just couldn't hold it any longer, but you were hoping to sneak back into bed for another hour or so. It never fails for them to hear that "alarm" and jump out of bed to come find you.
• You also don't have to teach them where to find their own meals. Those little buggers always know where it's stashed. From the cereal and snacks that are on the top shelf of the cupboards (they are never afraid of heights when it comes to food), to the candy stashed in the back corner of your nightstand drawer. You may need to work on portion control and use of dishes, though. They tend to think they need to empty the entire box of fruity puffs onto the floor to share with those who couldn't climb to the top shelf. 
• You never have to teach them to dance. Start up any music, and almost as soon as they can sit up, they're wiggling and dancing. The amount of dancing they do is in direct correlation to how big a crowd you're in.
• You don't have to teach them to take care of their things. Or perhaps I should say, you don't have to teach them that they have things. "MY toys! MY chair! MY food! MY shoes!" Seems to come quite naturally for them.

• You also don't have to teach them to repurpose items in this recycling world in which we live. Somehow they always manage to find multiple uses for the same item. In fact, sometimes they never use an item for its original intended purpose.

Obviously one of the things that you DO want to teach them is to have a close walk with the Lord. Some of that will be taught by example. For instance, I have my devotions every day. Kaitlyn realizes this. A couple of weeks ago, she started carrying her Bible around and announcing to me, "I doing my dotions (devotions), Mom." Yesterday she decided she wanted to do her "dotions" with Momma.

It's times like these when I don't mind the cereal all over the floor as much.