Pick your battles

Yesterday started off not great. Too little sleep + Corey getting called in + a 3 year old that can go from normal to ANGRY in a breath = exhaustion by 9 AM. Joe is tough sometimes. He is the sweetest kid in the world when he wants to be. He is the hardest kid in the world when he wants to be. And when he decides to be tough and irrational (can a 3 year old be irrational, I don't know) and stubborn, it WEARS ME OUT.

So yesterday we fought about clothing. We fought about breakfast. We fought about playing on my phone. So when we got in the car to go to church and Joe found his helmet and put it on, I had no more energy to fight with him. When he wanted to wear it into church, I let him. He wore it to the grocery store. He would have worn it to take a nap, but he had regained an ounce of logic by then and didn't fight me when I asked him to take it off.

Over the many years of my parenthood - I am oh so wise after 6 years of this thing :) - I have learned there is an art to picking battles. Some things matter. Some don't. But I forget to remember sometimes too. I forget that no one cares what Joe wears to church (certainly not Jesus). And it doesn't matter if he wants the exact same breakfast every single day. He's a stubborn kid; he's competitive; he has made me want to pull my hair out on more than one occasion. BUT he is mine. And I love every piece of him. Even when we meet out fight quota at 9 AM. Even when we battle.

PS--Don't forget to read my review of Trina Holden's Real {Fast} Food and leave a comment. You will be entered for a chance to win a copy of the book--and it is AWESOME!!