The Lick

The Spunky girl got in trouble today...

Well, sort-of... Here's how it all went down.

The dancing girl is at the top of the stairs trying her five-year-old best to sooth the screaming littlest boy.

I'm cooking dinner and I ask her from the kitchen,

"Why is he crying, my love?"

"I don't know Mom. But his hair is soaking wet."

The spunky girl starts crying.

Immediate tears are usually a dead give away that she's the culprit.

I leave the kitchen and head up the stairs straight into all the noise and melting children.

"Reesie, why are you crying? And why is Jed's hair all wet?"

She stops crying and shrugs her shoulders and lifts both her hands, palms up...

"I dun-no"

Again... evidence that she TOTALLY knows.

"Reesie? Tell Mama what happened?"

She gets that spunky girl scowl on face and turns her head down almost in shame and whispers it at first...

"I licked him."

"Sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly... what?"

She says it slower and LOUDER...

"I- LICKED-HIM."

"His hair is this wet because you licked it? How long could you have possibly licked his hair to make it that wet???"

"I a kitty, Mama.... Kitties lick."

"O-My-Goodness! No wonder the poor boy's crying??"

The spunky girl turns on the tears again.

I'm smiling at this point and she looks up at me all confused, not sure if she's gonna get in trouble or not. But how can you not smile when your little charmer's hair is soaking wet from his big sister's spit?

What I love about my life is that I can't possibly make this stuff up. These treasures, they're crazy and they're funny and they're full of life and creativity. There is rarely a dull moment under this farm-house roof. And although there are days that I choose to get all worked up over pretty much nothing, most days I know that this whole beautiful mess, is one GIANT gift.

I try to figure a way to turn this silliness into some kind of constructive life lesson... but all goes a wee bit south on me...

"Reesie girl, what am I supposed to do with you? Would you like it if I licked your head?"

The tears turn off (Yes, when she wants to, she has a total on and off switch) and she starts to giggle.

"Yeah Mama, you lick me!" She laughs all up in her own joy. "Mama be a kitty!" She starts jumping in her excitement that I too, might actually act like a kitty and lick her head...

Well that idea of discipline didn't quite turn out as planned.

So instead I bury my face in my hands and try to hold back the full burst of laughter that is just dying to fall out onto the floor.

I compose myself and lay it out there simple...

"Alright Reesie, let's not lick our brother anymore. Most people don't like to be licked. Do you understand?"

I get a smiling "Yes Mama," back, and that was that.

Loving all that He gives, even when I have no clue what to do with it. :)