Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Chocolate and Potty Training

I was thinking about two things on the way home from work last night...chocolate and prayer. The two do not seem to relate to each other in any way, but they have one thing in common...my nearly three-year-old daughter, Noly.

Noly is the epitome of energy, sensitivity and laughter all rolled into one. Her big blue eyes can melt your heart even when you are trying to punish her for doing something wrong. She started Preschool just a few weeks ago and loves every minute of it. Now, since Noly was small, we have been teaching her to pray before she eats. I taught her a short prayer because of her short attention span. We have always said, "Dear God, thank You for our food. Amen." The Preschool has another approach....they sing the prayer. This seems to have struck a note with her, and she now offers to pray.

Lately, I have been so tired from working, having a fussy baby and taking care of a toddler that I find myself with my elbows on the dinner table and my hands clasped together. I didn't think a thing of it until Noly started to sing her prayer in the middle of our meal. Oh yeah, that's what we do when we clasp our hands! It is so precious and priceless to me that I now do it on purpose just to hear her sing. I thought of how the Bible says in 2 Timothy 4 to be "instant in season, out of season" and in 1 Thessalonians 5 to "pray without ceasing." Always ready...always connected to God. I pray this is the kind of relationship my little girl has with God.

On another note, as of two days ago, Noly decided to potty train. She is doing well, and she requires that every attempt be rewarded with M&M's. This is so strange to us because she has always refused to eat chocolate. She would turn her nose up at anything brown or anything sweet. We didn't mind it...just thought it was odd. As of last night, every time ANY of us go to the bathroom, Noly insists on picking out a certain color of M&M for us...so much for losing all of my baby weight!

This morning was more of a delightful morning than most. Jule woke up after Kevin gave him his bottle. He usually just falls back to sleep. Kevin put him in his carseat so he could get something else done, and Jule looked at me and smiled and cooed. He then looked at Noly and got a huge grin on his face. So, we all spent part of our morning gathered around our little man talking to him and enjoying the coos and wide-mouthed smiles. Soon he'll be giggling, and I hope that soon, his pain will be gone.

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