The Ice Cream Dilemma

I think we’re wearing Sawyer out during this Thanksgiving vacation.  We’ve been staying up too late, eating too much junk food, watching too many movies, and not napping nearly enough.  Last night, when we were driving home from Shreveport after seeing Santa, Sawyer kept loudly exclaiming from his car seat, “I’m still awake!  I’m not going to sleep!  I’m awake, Mama!  I’m still awake!”

But, tonight as we were rounding out another crazy day of running around to different stores and projects the kids had going with scissors and way too much tape, we stopped at Sonic to get ice cream.  And Sawyer was on his last legs.  Adelade was exasperating him in some way from the seat behind him, in that special way that only big sisters really can exasperate a person.  He had had all he could take. And the tears welled up in his eyes.  I could see they were about to spill over, and I reached back to pat his little blue-jeaned leg, asking what was the matter.  That was all it took.  The tears flowed freely as he cried out, “I’m tiiiiiiiiiired!!!!!”

It was one of those moments when you feel really sorry for your child, but it’s just such a sweet and funny sight that you can’t help but laugh. In an attempt to make it okay for him to hit the sack as soon as we got home, we told him that he could put his ice cream in the freezer and eat it for breakfast tomorrow!  But, that made him cry even harder because as much as he REALLY wanted to go to bed, he REALLY wanted to eat that ice cream.

It made me think about how often I get the same way.  Man oh man, can life wear me out! And, like that certain big sister who keeps kicking my seat, people exasperate me.  And, I want what isn’t good for me instead of what I really need.  I can just picture God stretching out a divinely gracious hand to pat my head while I wail, “I’m tiiiiiiiiiiired!!!!!!”  He must laugh when He sees me get to that point, in my weakness, in my humanness.  I bet He finds it endearing.  After all,  He is my father and I’m His child.

Well, we made it home, and by the time Chad pretended to run into the front door with his head a few times, Sawyer was his regular giggling self.  And, he did scarf down that ice cream before he crashed.  But, I bet tomorrow morning he’ll wish he had waited, because it’s not every day that a four year old gets an opportunity to eat ice cream for breakfast.  Sawyer will wake up raring to go, with a million ideas already brewing of what he will do on Thanksgiving Day.  I’m building a nap into his agenda.

Tonight I’m thankful that I am already looking forward to seeing three little faces tomorrow morning.  And that I am God’s child.  And that I’m an adult, so I really can have ice cream for breakfast whenever I feel like it.