Happy and the Freezer

"Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me for you are good, O Lord."  Psalm 25:7

This morning the children were particularly unruly in the house, slamming doors, screaming, throwing things, slamming doors, laughing, stomping on the stairs. You should know that my central nervous system is directly tied to the slamming of doors and it then elicits a “fight” response in me that gives me visions of becoming a professional lady wrestler and body slamming someone. That someone being whoever slammed the door!

However, this morning, I was barely out of bed and I was too sleepy to jump off the top turnbuckle, so I yelled (we’re down to yelling at this point in the summer), “GO OUTSIDE!!”


They must have sensed the desperation in my voice because for one of the few times in the past couple of weeks, they listened to me on the first try! They decided to go swimming. Usually, I don’t condone children swimming without direct adult supervision, and I definitely don’t recommend it for other people’s children, however the threat of drowning in our three foot deep pool was a stark contrast to the threat of Darth Mother this morning.


I watch them through the window, after all.


After they’d been out there a little while, Mother Guilt began to set in as I realized I’d sent my half-naked children out to swim without their sunscreen on a 100 degree day. I headed out, spray and towel in hand.


My oldest had three big scratches on his rib cage that were quite red, but were from the night before.


“What happened?” I asked.


Huge sigh.


“I hope you don’t say the same thing as Daddy,” he said.


“What did Daddy say?” I asked.


“Well, I was playing with Happy (see cat above), and thought I would just hold the lid of the freezer up and put him in the freezer for just a minute, but then let him right back out, but…”


“WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE PUT YOU IN THE FREEZER?” I interrupted.


Huge sigh.


“That’s what Daddy said.”


Thank God for consistent parenting, teachable moments, and cats with mind reading abilities who are fast enough to get away!