Why I forget how frustrated my kids can make me...

One minute, I am seething inside because they won't clean up their messes, or I have asked them to fetch something and they come back empty handed, or they say, "I didn't hear you, Mom..." even though I have yelled for them to do something. And the next minute they say things so precious or so funny, that I just melt. Here are some of the things that they have been saying:

Ella...

I asked Ella, "Who are you anyway?"
She replied, "A princess."

At the dinner table, Ella left her seat (and I was instantly frustrated) and said to me, "I have a crecret to tell you." She stood on her tiptoes and place both hands on my cheeks and whispered into my ear, "I yuv you." That was the best secret that I have ever heard.

Nora...

After children's church on Sunday, the teacher told me that Nora was not behaving. Of course, I was embarrassed. On the way to the car, Nora says, "It is soooo boring to be polite."

We went to see Bennett as Peter the Great in his Living History project at school. As we left, Nora says, "Bennett is good at being Peter the Great, but he isn't a good artist. Do you know why mommy?"

I replied, "No."

Nora says, "Because God made him that way."

Nora asked me, "Why does our daddy have to go to Afghanistan to help people? There are people here who need help."

"I have a secret language that I whisper at school and it is English. That way the kids will think I only speak French like them."

Bennett

"I must be having a hormone surge because I am really craving some bagels and cream cheese."

I am frustrated with all of the survival gear and disaster packs that Bennett has piled in his room, or squirreled away in various backpacks. He says to me, "If the end of the world happens, won't you be glad that I'm your kid?"

"Thanks for bringing Ella to school and letting me hold her, it helped with the ladies."