Birthday, Mother's Day, Royalty and a little poo...

It's pretty cool the way that God arranges things.   I just don't think it's a coincidence that the birthday Bennet was given by the Ethiopian government was May 8, and that it fell on Mother's Day her first year here in America.  That's pretty special.  And trust me when I tell ya, Bennet likes special.  (:

Did I mention that Bennet is royalty?   She has informed us that she is a queen.  She has told us this more than once when we've asked her to do a couple "chores" that are "below" her.  But, never have we gotten quite the fired-up response as we did a few days ago when I asked her to pick up a small piece of dog poo that was on the floor in her room.  Oh.My.Gosh.  Ya'll, it was hysterical.  She had a conniption fit.  Full out.  Oh the drama.  There were tears.  There were screams.  There was stomping of feet.  Ey yi yi.  She said, "I DO NOT PICK UP POOP".   I was laughing like a hyena.  Sorry, I know some of you will think I'm traumatizing the poor child by making her pick up the poop, but that's how it is in our family, if you see it, you pick it up...and since she's in our family now, she's a poop-picker-upper, just like the rest of us.  So, after begging me for gloves, and then trying to sneak paper towels into the room (which would have ended up in the toilet and caused quite a mess), she finally succumbed to picking the less than one inch long piece of poo poo off the floor and flushing it.  Somehow she survived.  

Flash forward to last night when Bennet began screaming from the bathroom and both Brian and I went running to see what the emergency was -- cause they were "emergency" screams.  Sure enough, the toilet was overflowing all over the floor, and unfortunately, it was a number TWO situation so it wasn't a pretty site.  Brian took care of the plunging and I grabbed towels and paper towels and was in charge of getting the "stuff" off the floor.  Yep, I know its graphic, but it's gonna be a good story, so just stick with me.  Poor Bennet was humiliated.  And I understand exactly how she feels cause when I was 8 months pregnant with Gatlin, I was at a stranger's home for a funeral reception and went number two in the pot, only to have the whole thing come up and over -- in a STRANGER'S house.  Oh my gosh!  So, humiliating.  So, anyway, Bennet felt terrible, but we assured her that those things happen and it was ok and she didn't have to be embarrassed.  But, when we were all done cleaning up, there was a lesson to be taught about picking up poo.   Yep, a poo parable.  I got to explain to Bennet how her Daddy and I graciously cleaned up after her without complaint and that the next time...except I didn't have to finish my sentence because she said, "I can pick up a little dog poo without complaining".   Yep.  She is so smart!!  I love that kid.

Parenting isn't always easy - doesn't matter if they're adopted or biological - sometimes you just have to deal with poo.  It's part of it.  You have to learn how to bring down the drama and just clean up the mess.  You have to remember that the poo is just part of being a kid and you just have to do your best to parent in a balanced way -- discipline PLUS love.  Kids are gonna push the boundaries...kids are gonna say, "no"....kids are gonna have hissy fits....kids are gonna do what kids are gonna do.   But how are we going to respond as parents?   Do we say, "Oh, yes, you are a queen, do whatever makes you happy"?  Well, not in my house we don't.  LOL    

So, back to Bennet's birthday and Mother's Day so we can wrap this post up and get away from all the "dirty" talk.   Bennet had a great birthday party on Saturday at the bowling alley with about 12 friends and family members.  She ate pizza and cake and played tons of games.  She loved every minute of it and looked adorable in her pink Justin Bieber shirt (or course).   Bright and early Sunday morning she came to my room to give me the FOUR cards/letters she had made for me.   All week she made it clear that nobody was to look in her back pack cause she was hiding important things in there - and she pulled them out for me on Mother's Day.  Sweet notes about how I was the "best Mother" and about how much she loved me.  I loved how important Mother's Day was to her and I thought of how many years it had been since she'd had a mother.  Sigh.  

I will add that Kali said I was her "faber" mom and Kaleb concurred.  (:   However, yesterday Kaleb said that he needs my help catching a cicada to put in a jar to take to school for show-n-tell on Friday.  Um, my ranking may go way down, people, cause I DO NOT PICK UP CICADAS!!!   I would much rather pick up...well, you know.