Welcome to the World of Boys September 8, 2008

I signed up and got this blog up and running a week or so ago, but I haven’t felt as though I’ve had true inspiration to add a post… I thought in light of this morning’s events, I might go ahead and announce to the world (in case you didn’t already know) that raising boys is NOT easy!!!

Of all the ways someone has woken me up, I must say someone pounding on your door is never a pleasant way to wake up. (Mom woke us up this way at 2 a.m. last New Year’s b/c Hayden refused to spend the night at her house). As Justin and I ran down the stairs at 5:31 a.m., my first thought was, “Our house is on fire and they’re trying to get us out.” Isn’t it funny what goes through your head?

Then, I rounded the corner to the laundry room and saw 2 policemen with flashlights standing on our deck. I still wasn’t thinking that this had anyting to do with us until they asked, “Do you all have a little blond boy?” I can now say that I understand the phrase, “my heart leapt into my throat!” Hayden was standing around the corner (with blankie in hand, of course), but every worst case scenario went fleeting through my head in the 2-3 seconds it took for me to see him and sweep him up. I swear, I’m never watching television again!

Okay, so we all know that’s not true, but it was one of those defining moments as a parent when there is no thought of scolding. I was just happy that my crazy, literal, stubborn, night-wandering child was safe with me again, no matter what it took to get him there. According to the officers, someone saw him walking on Jefferson St./Hwy 68 about a block or so from our house and called the police. So, they took our names, b-days, and social security numbers, and let us know that DFS would probably be contacting us.

According to Hayden, the following paraphrase is what occurred: “I thought Mommy and Daddy went bye bye, so I turned the lock and walk to the street to find you. And I was crying, but someone found me and the policemen came. There were 2 flashlights: one big flashlight and one little flashlight. And then they bring me home so I can find you.” Of course, this is after a number of questions (completely open-ended so that I didn’t lead him into any answers). I was particularly fond of the description of the different sizes of the flashlights.

I find myself pondering two completely different sides of this issue now: one side is the “reaction,” which requires that we do something to “secure the door” (as the policeman said) so that Hayden can’t leave the house in the middle of the night again. There’s the chance that he’ll never even consider going outside in the middle of the night again, but because we can’t take that chance, we have to react to the potential danger that Hayden’s active imagination has apparently become.

The other side of my thinking reflects on the blessings that came from this. I am enormously thankful, praising God that Hayden is unhurt – that he wasn’t hit by a car, snatched by a kidnapper, or far enough away that they couldn’t figure out where he lived immediately. As a few friends have pointed out, it would have been worse to find his little bed empty in the morning than to wake to the police at our door.

As a parent, I’m constantly reminded – especially today – that so much of what happens to our kids is in God’s hands. We can only control so much of our environments, and then we just have to “pray without ceasing” and trust that God will take care of them the rest of the way. While part of me would have liked to spend the morning crying (instead I just welled occasionally) and clinging to my little boy (instead, I just hugged him every 20 minutes), that doesn’t show much faith in God’s greater plan for our lives. Although I can’t see the plan right now, I’m just thanking God for his mercy and asking Him to help me find the good in all of this, whatever it is!

There’s no question that being a mother of 2 boys keeps me on my toes!

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