To Every Thing...

...Turn, turn, turn

There is a season, turn, turn, turn

And a time for every purpose under heaven"

Every night I search through Rise Up Singing for lyrics to songs that I know. There aren't that many, and no matter how many times I sing them, I never remember the lyrics. Jasper has recently become attached to "Turn, Turn, Turn," stopping me every time I say, "a time to kill," to say, "Don't kill!" Or when I say, "a time to die," to say "Don't die!" I had to explain what it means "to weep," and now he stops me there, too. Yesterday I realized what an important song (and psalm) this is to remind me that there is a time for laughing and whining, for smiling and crying, for giving kisses and screaming "go away." A time to be gentle and a time to wrestle. A time to eat all of our supper, and a time to throw it on the floor. A time to use the potty, and a time to pee in our pants. When I signed up for this parenting thing, I signed up for the whole child. There will, for every stage in life, be ups and downs. And here I am holding my breath waiting for the "terrible twos" to be over.

Today we went to "music class" after a long hiatus. "Music Class" is essentially when Mr. Mark (the bald guy) sings for 30 minutes straight and a bunch of children ages 2 weeks to 4 years run around and pay variable attention to him while most moms sit around and gab. I call it "Music Chaos." Jasper pays very close attention and loves it.