"Mommy, Kee-dow won't yeave me ayone." Translation: Mommy, Kedar won't leave me alone.
"OK," I say without looking up. "Tell Kedar mommy said stop it."
"Stop it Kee-dow!" 4-year-old Kaleb yells out as he's walking out of my room with a sly, gratified look.
"But I didn't do anything mommy!" 6-year-old Kedar presents his counter-claim as he enters my room to plead his case.
"OK," I say again, without looking up from what I'm typing. "You two be nice."
"Okaaaay," they both whine and walk out.
This cycle had been going on all day. The first time, I stopped what I was doing to address the two "feuding" brothers. And I gave them equal attention the third and fourth time too. But after the 5th trip into my bedroom with the same gripes, I realized these two were happy to annoy each other.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, they were both laughing and playing.
Five minutes later... "Mommy!"
Then, I giggled after I heard an emotionless "Behave you two!" escape from between my lips. I sounded just like my mom did whenever she distanced herself from the tomfoolery my brothers and sisters had going on.
And you know what? This stance should apply to everyday situations that arise in our lives. Most of the time, it's not that serious, and it does no good to get all worked up over trivialities.
No matter how many distractions come our way throughout the course of the day, we have to recognize what's important and what's not. Otherwise, we'll expend unnecessary energy on impertinent things.
I encourage you to learn how to do what I did. Emotionally detach and don't be afraid to laugh some things off. Sometimes, you just need to dust your shoulders off and say, "Hey, it's not that serious."
Because it's not.
Today's Prayer: God, help me not to become anxious, worried, and distracted by every little thing that arises in my life. Help me to know when to give my time and attention to a matter, and when to let a matter resolve itself.