January 12 – “The injury”

Cailyn was here briefly this morning before her Dad came and took her to school.  She told us another of her whopper stories about life at her house.  They have pretty much completed the move to their new abode.  Chris asked Cailyn how the new house was going, and then got a bit more specific, “Did you sleep in your new bed last night?”

Cailyn (a bit sheepishly): “No, Nana.  I slept in mommy’s bed.”

Chris: (With just a hint of good-natured Nana-ish scolding): “And why didn’t you sleep in your new bed that Daddy made for you?”

Cailyn (After a long pause, a light bulb seemed to go off in her head.  A grin came across her face.  She looked down at the ground.  I couldn’t wait for what was coming next): “Because Daddy had to sleep in my bed because he was bleeding.”

Chris (Her own mommy/nurse instincts kicking in): “What happened? Did he cut it at work?”

Cailyn (Her smile broadening, because she just knew she had Nana, hook, line and sinker on this one): “No, at home.  He cut his chin.”

Nana (Now a bit more suspicious since she knew Nathan had been at work): “How did he cut it?”

Cailyn (Without missing a beat.  You could almost see the story being created in her mind, and now she couldn’t wait to get it out.  I understood the feeling.): “He was shaving and he cut his chin really bad and it was bleeding.”

Chris (Now pretty sure this was a tall tale, but anxious to see it through to its conclusion): “Oh, and mommy made him sleep in your bed because he was bleeding?”

Cailyn (Beginning to realize the jig was up, she waded right in): “No, Nana.  I did.  See, I tell Daddy what to do when Mommy is sleeping.”

And there it is.  As Nathan said later when we told him of the encounter, “That’s the story of my life … doing whatever I’m told by the women in my life.” 

Ah, married life mixed with parenting.  Ain’t it grand?

Ephesians 5:28 says, “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

Father, thank you for the wife-gift you gave to me.  Help me to appreciate her more today than yesterday … and to show it.  Amen.