Of Foam and Small Stuff...

This morning, I went for a much-needed nail appointment (it's an indulgence, I know...but so nice). My friend, M, who does my nails is now doing them at home. We sat on her porch and had a lovely conversation as usual. While I was there, my friend E called. She is working quite odd hours lately, so we haven't been able to have our small group Bible Study or just visiting time. She had some time, and wanted to meet for brunch.

I called home to make sure everything was OK. DSs 2, 3, and 4 were home alone. DS 2 was still sleeping. DSs 3 and 4 were up. Now I should tell you that these two are occasionally like oil and water. DS 3 is a rule follower and letter-of-the-law kind of guy. DS 4 is a risk-taker...I'm-going-to-test-the-boundaries guy. You can see why the two of them don't mix. But all seemed well, so I went to meet my friend.

Shortly after my arrival at the restaurant, I got a phone call from DS 4 asking me if his friend J could come over. Knowing that BOTH my older two sons were there, and thinking it would keep DS 4 out of DS 3's hair, I said, "Yes!" This was followed shortly by a call from DS 3 who said, "WHY are you letting him do that? You NEVER let me do that at his age? Why have the rules changed?" I THOUGHT I was doing him a favor. After trying unsuccessfully to convince him it was OK, I announced, "I like him better than you." DS 3 was not amused, but let it go and hung up.

Not long into my lovely conversation and brunch with E, the phone rang. It was DS 3 who sounded a bit alarmed..."MOM, the boys put shaving cream ALL OVER our front yard!" I admit, it caught me off guard. But I think I caught him off guard when I said, "OK, it will be fine...have them squirt it down." He said, "But, MOM it's everywhere." I talked to DS 4 and told him that they had to clean it up. DS 4 explained, "It's not shaving cream...it's my foamy shampoo." Regardless, I told them to CLEAN IT UP! I tried to assure DS 3 that it would soak into the yard and be fine...but he was not convinced.

As I drove home, I asked myself, "Why don't I get as upset as I might have when the older boys were younger?" I think as you age, you realize just how many things are not huge end-of-the-world deals. Not only that, I remembered playing with my friend Susan when I was about the same age, and we discovered discarded paint cans in her alley. We opened them up...and thought they were dried up...and poked them with sticks. Somehow we unearthed the paint that was not dried and had latex paint up to our elbows. When we tried to clean it up before her Mother found out...we ruined the bathroom sink and a few towels. We got the "If you have a question about something, and you want to learn about it, ask....don't just do it on your own." lecture that DH and I have given our own children.

Really, it's about perspective, in many ways, something that I'm grateful I get more of every single day...and something I'm sure even DS 3 will get, too, in time. So, Son, you might not understand now...but these words are true:

Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's almost ALL small stuff!