It just so happened that I was able to snap this photo while walking with my children on this beautiful fall day.  They love to wear color-coordinating outfits and walk hand-in -hand.  And wouldn’t you know it,  just as I was pulling out my phone to take a picture of this, all too familiar scene, they looked back at me.  Adoringly, they told me how much they loved me.

Hahahaha!

Oh, that’s funny!  I can hear you gagging, so here’s the real deal, folks…

The kids were dismissed early from school on what really was a beautiful fall day.  So…I said, “We’re going to take some pictures this afternoon.”  Suddenly, there are no kids in the room.  They have all scattered to the ends of the earth.  Apparently, they are not as excited about this as I am.

I find four of the children, wrestle them into color-coordinating clothes (otherwise known as # 5 on the “Top Ten Most Embarrassing Things Your Mom Could Make You Do” list), and I start making threats.

“Don’t eat, drink, or even think about spilling anything in the next thirty minutes.”

I also explain they should use the bathroom now because there would not be one where we were going.

So, we’re making progress, but the eighth grader is still missing.  The eighth grader appears.  The eighth grader is sent back to change after a discussion, I’m sure you’ve all heard of, called “Leggings Are Not Pants”.

Again, “Does anyone need to go to the bathroom?”

Maddie doesn’t understand why the ketchup stain on her shirt is a big deal (hence the scarf),  and Paige needs safety pins to hold up her leggings . (Because when you’re 6, leggings really ARE pants.

The last call is made for anyone needing to go to the bathroom and we pile into the dusty minivan.

Instructions are made clear…

“Don’t touch the dusty van.”

“Don’t write your name on the van.”

“Don’t touch anything sticky inside of the van.”

“Don’t touch each other.”

“Don’t pretend to touch each other.”

“Don’t put your finger within two inches from someone and declare that you are not touching each other.”

(This is not my first rodeo.)

We get to our destination and I start taking a few pictures.

Guess who has to go to the bathroom?

Me.

In the chaos, I forgot to go.  I’ll have to hold it because there is no way I’m going to share this with the “picture people” since I’ve asked them that question three times in the last 45 minutes.

Back to the photos…we’re having fun! (as in, no one has cried) and I say, “Why don’t you guys hold hands and walk across the bridge?”

People’s legs suddenly go limp.  I hear low rumbles and their eyes start to roll back into their heads.  Oh, and my son…my son doubles over and pretends he’s throwing up at the thought of holding his sister’s hand.

Nice.

“Please, just do it.”, I say.

So, they do…looking at me with toleration instead of adoration.

And instead of , “We love you, Mom.”…  I hear, “When are we done?”

But, despite the impromptu photoshoot, they really do love me AND each other.  There will come a day when the ketchup stains, fake vomit, and safety pins will begin to fade from my memory and I’ll be left with a photo of what seemed to be a simpler time.  A time before they really did scatter to what will feel like the ends of the earth.

So for now, Lord, I thank you for sunny, fall afternoons and time spent with my kids. Thank you  for putting them together.  I pray that someday, they will appreciate that you gave them built-in friends right from the start.

May they realize just how nice it was… to always have a hand to hold.