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My wife and I are babysitting 4 of my nieces and nephews while their parents try to reclaim their honeymoon that never was (as well as their sanity if they manage to find it…).

So with 5 kids in our home under the age of 8 there is a lot of “I miss Mommy”s, “I had the toy first”, “it’s too hot, I’m taking off my diaper” and(from the now diaper-less child) “I wet the bed, floor, ceiling, parrot, etc…”

To be honest, as much as I love kids, and I do, I just don’t think my wife and I are ready to have an extra 5 bodies crawling into our bed at night… not to mention that noise amplification seems to triple with each additional kid, I think we’re going to have a much easier time with our 1 son after this is all over…

I have a policy that you go the extra mile for family, and with my wife’s sister and her husband in dire need of a vacation it was our pleasure to volunteer to watch their kids for 5 days.
Yes, I know that may seem like more than just an extra mile… it’s an easy 20 miles or so I have been told… but despite the hardships we really wanted to do this from the bottom of our hearts.

In addition to the vacation my in-laws also made us trustees of their estate as well as their children’s legal guardians in the event that something should, G-D forbid, ever happen to them.
Not something I take lightly, but it’s nice that out of all her other siblings (my wife is number 9 of 13) they felt that we would be the ones best suited to raise their children…

So as I sat at the dinner table with 4 blubbering tykes I felt my blood start to boil and a feeling of “holy $%^&, this is only hour 5, we have another 5 days of this!” started to set it!

But right before I lashed out with a “will you kids shut the BLEEPING BLAPPING %^&* UP!!!!!” (not that I would actually verbalize it in such a manner, I do have some self-control, and I am pretty good with children), I thought of what would happen if something were to happen to their parents and we would end up raising them after this tragedy… My approach to their wailing “Mommy & Daddy” would be one of compassion and love, not a grumpy “ah sharrup…”

That got me thinking about perspective in general, and how trying to see things in a different light would impact someone…

so on that note I give you:

How I began to live

The nimble I;
had run the 5k, and danced the night away

But only when he jogged in on his chair with wheels did I first begin to walk

The vocal I;
would sing my favorite song, and laugh the whole night long

But only when he spoke of his life without a voice did I first begin to talk

The discontented I;
did preach my patriarchs faults, and their devotion would constantly assault

But only when I met the orphans ancestors was I first a child

The indulgent I;
drank to my heart’s content, and left my temple broke and bent

But only when I saw the dead man’s life did I first begin to live