The clash in my mind between letting these little boys help and just getting it done is constant.  I mean always a battle in there, I even find myself getting angry at the constant tug.  A battle that I never do know which side will win.  And its more of a struggle than I would like to admit, this whole letting them help thing.  It is a preachy subject, one in which I have found myself up on that slippery box calling out from time to time.  But, if I am truly honest sometimes it just plain old is awful.  Oh yes, sometimes, most times really, it is massively rewarding- often even rather amazing- and always in the long run it is worth it.  But the reality of the task, the whole I am holding the shopping list with three oh my goodness needing me children swarming my legs amidst the busy grocery store full of scornful eyes and oh wait you want to help?  You want to hold the calculator?  You want to check of the items from the list?  Oh yes… yes… you can.  I think.  You know, that part.  That part is painful.

This weekend there was a lot of that happening.  With a new chicken coop resembling the Taj Mahal being built, lots of extra hands around, a trio of new pigs, and the most beautiful weather 2016 has handed out, you can believe the little dimpled hands were stretching and grasping for a hammer or a drill, begging and pleading for a job.  And jobs they got.  Though I know it wasn’t easy at first, and there were some late nights to make up for it, by Sunday night these boys were strapped with tool belts handing out the proper supplies upon demand, changing drill bits, and measuring shingles.  Yes, there are more doodles on the inside of those chicken coop walls than originally designed, and yes people got injured from time to time (though nothing serious), the end result was legitimate helpfulness.  Right up until the end too.  The sun had long said goodnight and this toothless sweetie was wrangling chickens alongside daddy.  An impressive sight from all angles of the weeks end really.

When I let go of the immediate list in front of me, and see the real goals of this life, well just about everything changes.  Because the truth is there is always time to answer a question or for a quick snack break.  And of course, there is always time to notice, to laugh, and to learn something new.