Stumbling, falling, and other highlights of a Monday morning

This morning Jonathan decided he wanted to be loud.

And silly.

It was 6:30 a.m.

Richard had left for work; Allison hadn't got up yet.

Jonathan likes doing this thing where he puts his hand up beside his mouth for maximum megaphone effect, and lets out this indescribable shriek.

(Sometimes Richard says "At least it's a happy sound" -- to which I feel like replying, "Yeah, it's nice that he's happy while curdling my blood.")

This is what Jonathan decided to do this morning.  Repeatedly.

I said "Stop that" approximately 20 times.

I yelled.

I turned the TV off.

Eventually I did what I should have done earlier:  ignored all inappropriate communication.  Quiet descended as Jonathan worked on a puzzle, and I thought, "It's not even 7:00 on a Monday morning, and the day has already been a disaster."

Breakfast and bath were completed without incident, and at 8:45 it was finally time to walk Jonathan to school.  The sidewalks were a bit slippery in spots, so we were walking pretty gingerly.  

Then Jonathan slipped and down he went. He sat on his bum on the wet sidewalk and screamed.

I got him up -- a process reminiscent of this scene in the movie "A Christmas Story" -- and we moved on to the edge of the road where the footing was a little more mushy.

A block later he wiped out again.

Trying to strike the right balance between sympathy and encouragement ("Sorry that happened, now PLEASE GET UP"), I helped him to his feet again.

He looked tearfully at me and said, "Home."

I knew exactly what he meant.  Why not just give up now, go home, and crawl under the covers?

We made it to school without further mishap; tears turned to a smile when he greeted Mr. O and then headed off with the other students when the bell rang.

This whole episode made me think of one of my favourite Bible passages, Isaiah 40:30-31:

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  

but those who hope in the Lord sill renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; 

they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What these verses say to me is this:

Sometimes we're just going to fail.  We're going to respond in a way we don't want to.  We're going to stumble and fall.  That's reality.  

But there's still hope.  We can get back up again and keep moving forward, knowing we're loved and accepted no matter what.

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