How am I supposed to write a blog?

I've been trying to write a post for almost two hours. After dinner was over and the dishes were washed, I planned to sit down for a good session of computer time. But two little people had very different ideas.

Even as I was working with Becky in the kitchen, there were incessant pleas from Josiah to come and play with him. At almost three years old, he really doesn't care what we play as long as it is play and we're playing it together. Knowing these precious days of him wanting my company are fragile and possibly few, I quickly gave in. We ended up on the living room couch with Amelia (13 months old) on my lap and Josiah snuggled at my side. Each of them had drug out a children's book from their bookshelf for me to read to them. Thirty minutes later, we had finished up both books, so I stood up and inform the pair that I was heading into my room to work on the computer. Having just spent more than a half an hour with them, I figured they could very well play quietly for the rest of the evening.

Then the provoking began. Two little creatures wearing footie pajamas began continually charging into my room roaring at me and then running out of my room again with nervous giggles. They were trying to tempt the mighty lion out of his den to chase them down and eat them up. Time after time, bolder and bolder they got until the beast at the computer could resist no more. Roaring his most ferocious roar, the lion lept from his computer chair and on all fours chased down those foolish children who decided to mess with the lion. With wild glee the two offenders fled as fast as their little legs could take them. All efforts to evade capture were in vain. First, Amelia was nabbed with the lions left paw. Then in one mighty swoop, Josiah was in the grasp of the hungry creature. Then the mighty lion proceeded to taste and nibble on tummies, armpits, necks and thighs. The two poor victims writhed and squeeled and laughed until they could take no more. Having learned their lesson about bothering the busy beast working on his blog, they were set free.

I then went back to my computer for another try at being productive. Moments later, two creatures wearing footie pajamas charged into the room. The whole cycle had begun again. Over and over those relentless youngsters tormented the lion. And over and over again, the lion succumed to the temptation and lunged.

Long after the novelty should have worn off for the night, those two kept up their attacks until Daddy was finally playing official hide-and-go-seek. After a half dozen rounds of hiding and seeking (Josiah counts way too fast skipping 2-6 on his way to 10), I sternly informed the whole family that I was making my way to the computer to work.

This ceasefire lasted a few minutes while teeth were brushed and vitamins eaten. There were a couple of minutes of relative silence. Then, Mom let me know that there were two little bodies strangely lying on the livingroom floor, the casualties of some misfortune. I never discovered what tragedy had befallen them, but their mother's "worries" compelled me to action. I headed to the scene. I found my two little ones lying very still. Amelia was staring up at me trying to figure out what she was supposed to be doing, but her brother had his eyes closed and was trying very hard to keep his grimace from forming into a grin. After making that quick accessment, I raced into the kids' room where I donned a makeshift fireman's hat and picked up a box of toys to be my firstaid tools. I raced back to the livingroom while making my best imitation of an ambulance siren.

By the time I reached the scene Amelia had given up the game and had fully 'recovered'. She stood next me and stared while I worked on her brother. It took five minutes of first aid including shock treaments with puzzle pieces to bring him around, but in the end he made a full recovery. Without charging my grateful patient a cent, I headed back to the...computer.

Josiah was informed that he had five minutes before going to bed. Having just watched Dr. Dad in action, he was eager to have his turn at being the surgeon. So as his final act before confinement to bed, he wanted to do surgery on me. With exactly one minute before bedtime, he came to my desk to ask me to be his patient. I told him one minute was not long enough, so we appealed to Mom. She gave him an extension of five minutes, and the operation began.

First of course, we needed a reason for me to be operated on. So I walked into the living room and suddenly collapsed quite conveniently on our soft rug. Josiah instantly went to work saving my life. For the most part, his methods were painless except for the pokes in the eyes. When the time limit had been reached, Josiah's mom and sister brought me fully back to life with a pair of powerful kisses.

So you can see what a quiet evening is like at the Maricle home. An hour after the kids have been prayed with and tucked into bed, I am finally finishing up the post I set out to write so long ago. Needless to say, the topic of this post turned out very different from what I intended to write about. Perhaps tomorrow, I can overcome the urges to tackle the little ones, and maybe then I will try again to type the intended post.