Eat Soap Again
My husband and I have said many times (mostly joking, of course) that if Will had come first, there would be no Walker. For him to have been the most perfect, well-behaved and easiest baby that ever did live, he sure has made it his goal to develop the complete opposite reputation as a toddler. I'm not kidding. So many of our friends at church, all who love and adore his precious personality, say they have never seen anything quite like our Will. Great...
Tuesday night, Will was feeling more like himself for the first time in about 5 days. He was finally getting over the flu and making his way into mischief again. Lots of it.
He, Cliff and Walker were kicking around Walker's new soccer ball in the living room and I was in the kitchen doing (surprise, surprise) housework. :)
At one point I hear Cliff gasp "What did you eat?" Then I hear sounds of "Ech, gag, plbbb, uuhh, Ech, gaggggg..." I go in the living room to find Will covered in blue liquid, and spitting and gagging with every ounce of energy he had. At first we thought it was kid shampoo, but upon further investigation, which only involved taking about four steps and landing ourselves in the hallway, we discover laundry pods on the floor. Blue on the carpet. Fear in our hearts.
The fear down sized a little when Walker picked up the pod Will had clearly bitten in to, and only a little bit was gone from it and the gooey casing was still in tact except for bite marks.
After following all appropriate safety measures we waited and monitored him and a few minutes later the vomiting began. He vomited on Walker's booster seat. He vomited on the carpet, and of course, because he is a baby boy and he was vomiting, he needed me to hold him, so he could vomit on me also. Twice. Then it was done, and he was fine. He was back to playing and pulling all the usual tricks he has learned from his brother about avoiding bedtime. They worked, but not because he is a smooth operator. There's no way we were letting him go to bed until we witnessed normalcy in his behavior for a good long while.
We cleaned up the vomit, flushed him with more water, changed our clothes and I undressed him to put him in his second bath of the evening when it happened. He wiggles from my arms in the bathroom, runs across the hallway to the laundry room, and laughing says "Eat soap gee-un?" (Eat soap again, for those of you who aren't fluent in "Will.")
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't even believe it. I mean, I really COULD NOT believe it. After all that child had been through in the last hour or so. After gagging, spitting, vomiting, shaking his head in disgust at his actions, traumatizing us, he wanted to eat soap again. He couldn't, of course, because I had safely secured the laundry pods in the cabinets high above where they typically stay, and I was on him like white on rice. Watching his every move, doing everything in my power to make sure my baby didn't put himself in any more danger.
But I truly believe he would have, because he is Will. And so far, Will hasn't learned the value of identifying destructive behaviors and running from them with all his might. Rather he appreciates and enjoys the thrill of the off-limits, the potentially dangerous, the "been there, done thats..."
One day, he will outgrow toddler hood and hopefully most of his desire to entertain trouble will be left behind as well. But we all have inside us, the tendency to entertain trouble at times. We don't eat laundry pods. And we certainly don't go back for seconds. At least not in my house. To each his own, but if you do, we find you weird. :). We do however bite into sin, into the things that are off-limits, no matter how big or how small. And whether we just taste it and spit it out or swallow and fully digest it, it leaves its mark on us. Blue stains all over us. Some of us learn from it, but others of us enjoy the thrill. Even the experience of undesirable consequences is sometimes not enough to keep us from taking another bite, from going back for seconds.
But did you know you don't have to go back there? Sin, even sin entertained, doesn't have to leave its mark on us. It doesn't have to define us. There is a Savior, who is living and active and has forgiveness to offer you. He loves you in your worst state and He loves you as much as He loves anyone. There is nothing you can do that will change that. No matter how deep a shade of blue your stains are. He can show you how to stop desiring the second bite, and even the first bite. He can show you how to live. All you have to do is simply ask.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Tuesday night, Will was feeling more like himself for the first time in about 5 days. He was finally getting over the flu and making his way into mischief again. Lots of it.
He, Cliff and Walker were kicking around Walker's new soccer ball in the living room and I was in the kitchen doing (surprise, surprise) housework. :)
At one point I hear Cliff gasp "What did you eat?" Then I hear sounds of "Ech, gag, plbbb, uuhh, Ech, gaggggg..." I go in the living room to find Will covered in blue liquid, and spitting and gagging with every ounce of energy he had. At first we thought it was kid shampoo, but upon further investigation, which only involved taking about four steps and landing ourselves in the hallway, we discover laundry pods on the floor. Blue on the carpet. Fear in our hearts.
The fear down sized a little when Walker picked up the pod Will had clearly bitten in to, and only a little bit was gone from it and the gooey casing was still in tact except for bite marks.
After following all appropriate safety measures we waited and monitored him and a few minutes later the vomiting began. He vomited on Walker's booster seat. He vomited on the carpet, and of course, because he is a baby boy and he was vomiting, he needed me to hold him, so he could vomit on me also. Twice. Then it was done, and he was fine. He was back to playing and pulling all the usual tricks he has learned from his brother about avoiding bedtime. They worked, but not because he is a smooth operator. There's no way we were letting him go to bed until we witnessed normalcy in his behavior for a good long while.
We cleaned up the vomit, flushed him with more water, changed our clothes and I undressed him to put him in his second bath of the evening when it happened. He wiggles from my arms in the bathroom, runs across the hallway to the laundry room, and laughing says "Eat soap gee-un?" (Eat soap again, for those of you who aren't fluent in "Will.")
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't even believe it. I mean, I really COULD NOT believe it. After all that child had been through in the last hour or so. After gagging, spitting, vomiting, shaking his head in disgust at his actions, traumatizing us, he wanted to eat soap again. He couldn't, of course, because I had safely secured the laundry pods in the cabinets high above where they typically stay, and I was on him like white on rice. Watching his every move, doing everything in my power to make sure my baby didn't put himself in any more danger.
But I truly believe he would have, because he is Will. And so far, Will hasn't learned the value of identifying destructive behaviors and running from them with all his might. Rather he appreciates and enjoys the thrill of the off-limits, the potentially dangerous, the "been there, done thats..."
One day, he will outgrow toddler hood and hopefully most of his desire to entertain trouble will be left behind as well. But we all have inside us, the tendency to entertain trouble at times. We don't eat laundry pods. And we certainly don't go back for seconds. At least not in my house. To each his own, but if you do, we find you weird. :). We do however bite into sin, into the things that are off-limits, no matter how big or how small. And whether we just taste it and spit it out or swallow and fully digest it, it leaves its mark on us. Blue stains all over us. Some of us learn from it, but others of us enjoy the thrill. Even the experience of undesirable consequences is sometimes not enough to keep us from taking another bite, from going back for seconds.
But did you know you don't have to go back there? Sin, even sin entertained, doesn't have to leave its mark on us. It doesn't have to define us. There is a Savior, who is living and active and has forgiveness to offer you. He loves you in your worst state and He loves you as much as He loves anyone. There is nothing you can do that will change that. No matter how deep a shade of blue your stains are. He can show you how to stop desiring the second bite, and even the first bite. He can show you how to live. All you have to do is simply ask.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
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