We have a digger...

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter

till the full light of day."

Proverbs 4:18

Yesterday I found out my parenting light of righteous is just a flicker. Our son Brady came into the house covered in mud. My first thought was, "Okay our children will come home in mud. No big deal." First I saw his nose. It was black and dripping with mud. His whole nose not just the end. Then I looked down at his feet, his paws up to the half way mark of his legs-covered in black mud. I went to grab him and any time you touch him he thinks you want to play. So Brady gets all excited and jumps on me. Now I have dripping mud all over me. Still seeing this as an opportunity to develop my parenting skills I think, "No big deal. Yes they are my favorite pj's but they can be washed." Next Brady realizes he's wet. What do dogs do when they're wet. Yup they shake. Brady did shake and he shook. I stood watching helplessly as black mud flew all over our freshly painted kitchen walls. The walls my husband has been working on after work and on the weekends. Still completely impressed with how I was handling this unexpected event before work I thought, "That's okay, I can wash the walls and my husband will never see the dotted mud streaked white walls." Before I could address the walls I knew I had to clean Brady up. As I went to get a towel-he took off onto our clean carpet. Okay I can clean the carpet, I thought. Now I was started to talk to my self through clenched teeth. The lighthearted approach was fading and I was doing my best to fake it. So off I go to clean off Brady. Sometimes Brady likes to play keep-a-way and much to my chagrin this turned into one of them. Around the house I chased my mud slinging dog. No longer trying to fake any pretense's of righteousness. This was war. Good against evil. Good-me fighting to keep our house clean against evil-Brady doing his best to sling mud all over my house. Yes finally I get a hold of Brady. As I try to clean him off he continues to play. Play for Brady means continually biting you and grabbing your arms between his arms. No he doesn't bit hard but still a nuance. Now I'm reduced to screaming, "No Brady-Stop Brady" thinking somehow its a volume issue. Apparently he can't hear me. I must yell louder. Just what the neighbors want to hear at 5:30am. Finally I wrestle him to the floor. Did I mention our 7 month old puppy is pushing 60 pounds? I wrapped my legs around his body and put his head into a head lock so I could clean the mud off him. As you can imagine I was a little late for work. When I walked in the someone mentioned, "Running a little late today?" To which I responded, "ya I decided to do a little cleaning around the house."

Where did the mud come from? Brady dug a hole right in the pathway my husband walks in the morning, in the dark, to his truck. Thus, we have a digger. Pray my light gets brighter before Nemo & Nema come home.

I did learn something from this experience. It's okay -I can clean mud off of the floor, dog, kitchen table, dining room table, carpet, kitchen walls, living room walls, heck lots of walls, couches, wood floors, pj's, oven, fridge, and dishwasher.