The Power Pole Perspective

Samuel was unloading the dishwasher yesterday and complaining about how hard it was and how much he hated it. As I tried choosing my response carefully, I remembered the story of the power pole that Elder Quentin L. Cook shared at General Conference.

Quentin's father had a ranch house with a beautiful view out the window. Right in the middle of that view was a tall, metal power pole with cables leading to and from it. Quentin was turned off by that ugly thing and asked his father why he placed the window there. His father replied that that pole reminded him that he didn't have to haul water to the house anymore, and that he didn't have to light oil lamps anymore. That pole was the greatest thing on his property and he wanted it right in the middle of his view.

I told Samuel this story, and I also told him about the years that Jonah and I didn't have a dishwasher and how we spent an hour each night doing dishes. It was hot, wet work. When we moved into an apartment with a dishwasher, all of a sudden we had time for hobbies in the evening! It was amazing! Every time I load that dishwasher, I am grateful for the time and energy it saves me.

So the Power Pole Perspective is this: two people can see the same thing and think two completely different things about it. Quentin saw the power pole as an ugly distraction. His father saw it as a blessing. Samuel sees a dishwasher as a terrible task. I see it as a blessing.

(Quentin L. Cook telling his story)

We can have the negative perspective that comes naturally to us, or we can CHOOSE to have the alternative, more grateful and more joyful perspective. Examples in my life currently...

I hate doing laundry vs. I am so grateful we have clothes and machines that make it so I don't have to haul water from a well, rub my clothes on a washboard, and hang them up to dry.

This back pain is awful vs. I am so grateful to gain a little empathy for people with chronic back pain, and I am grateful that this is giving my children an opportunity to help around the house more.

We don't always have a choice in what happens in our life, but we always have a choice in our perspective. 

I Might as Well Laugh Now

Well. It happened. Our family finally has one of those stories.

I was in the pool with the other kids. Samuel was drawing at the table as Hannah was eating something. I came in after a while and found her sitting proudly in her chair, announcing the good news: "Samuel cut my hair!" I saw the scissors on the table. I saw the hair on the ground. I saw a lot more of Hannah's forehead than I had ever seen before. And I saw Samuel's sweet face, tilted to one side, with a pair of shrugged shoulders underneath. "Her bangs were too long! I wanted her to be able to see!"

At that moment, I had two choices 1) Get mad or 2) Look into the future and recognize that one day, I am going to laugh about this. So I might as well laugh now.  

I find myself thinking that a lot when I come upon situations like this. Even though I often chose to laugh, I have to keep my laughter on the inside for a while. I have to keep a straight face for long enough to scold them a bit so they know it's not okay to be naughty. But choosing to laugh now helps ME deal with naughty behavior better. 

One day I'm going to laugh about these short, messy bangs. I'll be sitting at a park with some friends or sitting on the sofa with my husband and we'll just laugh and laugh about this. So I might as well laugh now! No sense in being upset! 

(photos are a reenactment)

Have a Good Nap, Potty!

I look forward to nap-time each day for many reasons. 1) I get to eat the lunch that I have been planning on eating for the past hour, but haven't gotten around to it yet. 2) I get to spend one-on-one time with my little Simon Peter, who has been starved for attention for the past three and a half years and finally gets it now that his older brothers are in school and his younger sisters are sleeping. And 3) I clean up messes. Sometimes.

But the thing I look forward to the most is this: What will Hannah insist on falling asleep with today? Everyday, she points to various things she wants in the crib with her as she is falling asleep. Here are some samples of the past week

 

Ready for sleep! And a solar eclipse! And a dance party!

Today, she wanted all her new dollhouse people (and the potty!) tucked in next to her. Before I left, I went down the line and said,

Goodnight Hannah

Goodnight Daddy

Goodnight Mommy

Goodnight Baby

Goodnight Potty

I love this little girl so much! She makes me laugh all the time.

Mary's Mysterious Wound

Today held one of those moments when I found myself trying to read the mind of my two year old. Always an entertaining moment.

As I was getting ready for church, I left Mary (5m) on the bed to wiggle and giggle alone. You'd think that after five months, I'd finally learn that my other daughter, Hannah (freshly 2), has a sixth sense--the "Mom-is-Busy-and-Mary-is-Alone" sense. Well. I forgot about that sense this morning, and all of a sudden, I heard a scream and a long silence before the next scream. Uh oh. The longer the space between the first two screams, the more painful the incident. I ran out to the bed to find Hannah slinking guiltily off the bed, and Mary screaming with some blood under her eye. "What happened?!?!?!" I yelped...as if I expected Hannah to tell me exactly what happened... I looked at her guilty face and assumed she had scratched Mary. I looked at her nails. They weren't long enough to break skin. How did she make her little sister bleed? There were no weapons of destruction nearby. I was clueless.

 But then I noticed a suspicious mark above Mary's eye. Huh? A red mark above her eye and a cut underneath her eye... And then the pieces all came together: no sharp nails, no weapons nearby, two marks a couple inches apart. Hannah bit Mary's eye!!!!!

What was Hannah thinking when she bit Mary's eye????? I found myself laughing at the possibilities...

"I need to assert my dominance. She is the beta sister. I am the alpha sister."

"I wonder what her eyeball tastes like?"

"Maybe biting her eye will make her laugh!"

"She has too many eyelashes. Here. I'll get rid of some."

"I'm hungry"

Who knows. But sometimes you just have to wonder. What are those two year olds thinking??!?!?!