AIRPLANE: What Mom impersonates to get a 1-year-old to eat strained beets.
APPLE: Nutritious lunchtime dessert which children will trade for cupcakes.
BABY: 1) Dad, when he gets a cold. 2) Mom's youngest child, even if he's 42.
BATHROOM: A room used by the entire family, believed by all except Mom to be
self-cleaning.
BECAUSE: Mom's reason for having kids do things which can't be explained
logically.
BED & BREAKFAST: Two things the kids will never make for themselves.
CAR POOL: Complicated system of transportation where Mom always winds up
going the furthest with the biggest bunch of kids who have had the most
sugar.
COUCH POTATO: What Mom finds under the sofa cushions after the kids eat
dinner.
DATE: Infrequent outings with Dad where Mom can enjoy worrying about the
kids in a different setting.
DRINKING GLASS: Any carton or bottle left open in the fridge.
DUST RAGS: See "DAD'S UNDERWEAR."
EAR: A place where kids store dirt.
ENERGY: Element of vitality kids always have an oversupply of until asked to
do something.
EYE: The highly susceptible optic nerve which, according to Mom, can be "put
out" by anything from a suction-arrow to a carelessly handled butter knife.
FOOD: The response Mom usually gives in answer to the question, "What's for
dinner tonight?" See "SARCASM."
GENIUSES: Amazingly, all of Mom's kids.
HAMPER: A wicker container with a lid, usually surrounded by, but not
containing, dirty clothing.
HANDI-WIPES: Pants, shirtsleeves, drapes, etc.
HINDSIGHT: What Mom experiences from changing too many diapers.
ICE: Cubes of frozen water which would be found in small plastic tray if
kids or husbands ever filled the things instead of putting them back in the
freezer empty.
JEANS: Which, according to kids, are appropriate for just about any
occasion, including church and funerals.
JUNK: Dad's stuff.
KISS: Mom medicine.
LEMONADE STAND: Complicated business venture where Mom buys powdered mix,
sugar, lemons, and paper cups, and sets up a table, chairs, pitchers and ice
for kids who sit there for three to six minutes and net a profit of 15
cents.
MAYBE: No.
OCEAN: What the bathroom floor looks like after bath night for kids,
assorted pets, two or three full-sized towels and several dozen toy boats,
cars and animals.
OPEN: The position of children's mouths when they eat in front of company.
OVERSTUFFED RECLINER: Mom's nickname for Dad.
--Author unknown.
A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.
Something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are God`s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through all our life without
any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly.
--Author unknown.
