The Four P’s
09 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Church, Faith, God, Life, Prayer, preschool, Private Education Tags: church, Faith, Life, Preschool, Private Education
Packing. Preschool. Palmolive. Prayer.
What do they have to do with one another? A lot, since that is what’s filling our busy lives these days.
Let’s start with packing. We are moving. We haven’t talked much about it because it’s been a process. But, Kyle and I decided to sell our house and rent for a couple years before buying our next home. It’s been a very emotional experience for me. Chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, but deep down inside, I know why it’s emotional. You all know I don’t like change, though I try really hard to embrace it. Still, I love our home. It was our first house together. It was where Kaden was born. There are a lot of memories boxed into 2,000 square feet. And, to leave it is to say goodbye to a chapter in our lives. It’s hard for me. What else can I say?
Kyle looks at the sale with a different set of eyes. He thinks it’s the smartest decision we could make and that it’s a chance to start fresh. It’s true. I know it’s financially smart too. I also know that we’re going to want a bigger house soon. Believe it or not, we’re outgrowing this house with the addition of another Zuelke. So, it’s likely we’ll be settling into another house in the next 4-6 weeks. With that said, we’ve begun to pack up our belongings and the house is already looking bare.
The preschool search has begun. Kyle, Kaden and I toured a potential school on Friday to begin looking at Kaden’s educational options. It was, well, shall I say an eye-opening experience? Kaden was a madman. He ran all over the place, picked up every toy he came into contact with, stuffed batteries into a printer, cried when we asked him to put something down, and at one point, threw a ball at the principal. Awesome. I watched our scholarship dreams crumble. Kidding. But, when she gently said, “He is ready for school,” Kyle and I knew exactly what she meant. She politely was telling us our child needs structure. I do not disagree.
We have another school tour scheduled this Friday, and I’m looking into another couple of schools in our area. Private school isn’t cheap, but neither is daycare or public preschool. I’d rather sacrifice a few extra bills to give Kaden a good education from the start and teach him discipline early. Plus, he needs the stimulation and a social atmosphere where he can meet other children. The principal suggested we put Kaden in school before the baby arrives so he doesn’t feel like he is being pushed out when his brother comes home. It makes perfect sense to us, so the plan is to have Kaden in school by April.
And, now I transition to the third P. You may wonder why Palmolive turns up in this blog. Let me explain. As I showered and blow-dryed my hair on Saturday morning, Kaden sat on the couch watching cartoons. I beamed out of the bathroom every few minutes to check his status. Still in front of the TV. Cool, I can finish getting ready while Kyle is running errands. Next check on Kaden, he’s still sitting on the couch, but holds up something in the air and says, “soap.” “Soap?” I ask myself. As I move in closer, I get this panicked feeling in the pit of my stomach. No, it’s not soap. It’s not Palmolive. It’s my Mac oil-based foundation all over his mouth, his hands, his clothes, the couch, the carpet, the ottoman and a blanket. He was tasting makeup, not soap, which either way is bad!!
“No, no, no, Kaden. Did you eat this?” I am freaking out now because I have no idea if he actually ingested it and how much! I run him to the bathroom sink and flush out his mouth with water. Now he is crying because of my reaction. I finally clean him up and check him over a few times before believing he is okay and not overdosing on chemically-laced makeup. Then I set out to survey the damage, and it is not pretty.
Holy hell. How am I going to get this out of the carpet and couch? I tried the Green Machine, which has never disappointed with any other stain I’ve had to combat… and it didn’t even touch it. Now I really started to panic because an inspection for our house was scheduled for Monday, and the homeowners were planning to attend. I didn’t want them to see stained carpet. About to give up, I turned to the internet. And, therein lied the answer. Palmolive. Well, the page I found suggested Dawn Dish Soap, but I only had Palmolive, so I was going to try it. And, what do you know? Just like that, the stains came out. It brought the oily mess to the surface and wiped right off. The day was saved.
After that whole fiasco, Kyle and I decided we needed a little God in our lives and committed going to church on Sunday. Okay. We decided we were going to church before the shock and awe of the Mac Makeup disaster, but now there was no backing out. This time, we needed a little prayer. We were sure that going to church for the first time with Kaden was going to be another natural disaster. We didn’t have an ounce of faith we would make it through mass, and we were sure Kaden would manage to shove us out the door with all the other parents who attempt to bring their wild, inattentive, screaming toddlers to church. I think at one point Kyle said, “We’ll be lucky if we’re there for 15 minutes.”
God must have answered our prayers, because Kaden was a saint. Well, not exactly. But close enough. He actually was quiet, sat with us or stayed near us, and even sat on Kyle’s lap with his head rested on Kyle’s shoulder. We managed to stay in church for the whole hour. It was nothing short of a miracle.
There were a lot of lessons learned this past weekend. But, if I had two take-away moments they would be to buy Palmolive and ask God to help out every now and then.
