{This just in! You can now get your copy of From Mom’s Failure to God’s Grace: Stories of Raising Boys from the MOB Society Writers as a PDF download! Just click the “buy now” button below. Don’t like PDFs? You can always get your copy on Amazon.}
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It happens every night – The Rumpus.
The before bed-time surge of energy that sends little boys running, chasing, screaming, jumping, squealing, and laughing.
And it’s the perfect storm of annoyance for this tired, sound-sensitive mama.
I’ve spent years being frustrated and angry during the last hour of my children’s day. I’ve been impatient, fussy, prone to exasperation, and generally lacking in grace.
But God has been transforming me. Transforming my heart, and my priorities, and my present so that one day in the future I don’t regret my past.
God has helped me to embrace mutual respect and grace. Has helped me to focus on what matters and what doesn’t. Has helped me to appreciate that the sand in the hour-glass is falling, with or without my approval.
What a silly, fleshly thing to be angered by happiness, and joy, and laughter – simply because it’s loud and I’m tired.
I need to relish the laughter, to drink it in, to remember it for always and thank God for every timbre of it.
So, when chasing and squealing, and door slamming, and raucous laughter ensue long after the sun has gone down and I desperately want little people to, also – I try to remember to close my eyes, to breathe, and to remember that this moment in time is a gift.
The laughter is a gift. The time is a gift. The rumpus is a gift.
Even the crying, and the sighing, and the frustration is a gift because it stretches me past my selfishness and creates in me a more grace-filled, empathetic mother, follower, and worshiper.
I don’t know who I would be today without the sanctification that comes through parenthood.
-Jessica Bowman
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To continue our re-launch festivities, we have another giveaway just for you!
Today, you can win one of two copies of an awesome ebook from a beautiful boy mom!
Hayley, blogger at The Tiny Twig, has written The No Brainer Wardrobe: Get Dressed With More Confidence and Less Fuss, an ebook that all women, and especially busy boy moms, NEED to have! I {Erin} absolutely love the book and I know you will too!
To enter, just leave a comment here today! Easy peasy, right?!
This giveaway will close at 10 p.m. EST TONIGHT so don’t miss out!
Two winners will be chosen at random and notified by email!
Thank you so much to Hayley for donating these copies to help us celebrate!
Gosh what a timely word for me! Thanks for the reminder & encouragement to find the Extra grace to allow my boys to be boys & maybe even join in myself!
One way to remove the rumpus at bedtime is to remove the bedtime
My guys each go to bed at their own times of their own choosing….the eldest snuggles up with me at 11:00 and the youngest draws, plays with his DS, hums to himself, or builds things and then goes to bed on his own somewhere between 11 and 2….(They are 8 and almost 6) We still have lots of rumpus around here…but not surrounding bed time..if that makes any sense 
I have quiet time in the mornings…which was a bit of a stretch for this night owl to accept! Would love a copy of that e-book….my closet needs a little help!
So that’s what you call my one year old’s extra giddy hour before he passes out. I love it!!! Thanks for sharing.
I obviously need this book LOL
I definitely struggle with remembering that “my” time is not my time. It’s God’s time and my sons’ time. When “my” time gets interrupted I need to remember that it’s ok because it’s not my own. I think that goes along the lines of the loud times of boys.
Randi´s last [type] ..there’s no place like home
Wow. I really needed that today. Thank you so much for your wise and encouraging words!!
Cute idea! Need all the help I can get. LOL =)
Rita @ Healthy Mom, Sexy Wife´s last [type] ..Recipe: Whole Wheat Flax Tortillas
I’ve learned to also take cues from my husband at bedtime…. He takes advantage of those moments with my boys to get big laughs and every last drop of silliness out of each of them.
love it!! sounds like my house ever night!! thanks for sharing!!
Thanks so much for this reminder. I’m usually tired and just want to relax. Also the rumpus often makes me forget that LO is really tired and needs to go to bed
What a great reminder! We only have our little boys for a little while! It’s great to remember to rejoice in the way God created them and in the fact that He gave them to us!!
Thanks
Thank you so much for this post! This was definitely something I needed to hear right now! I need to remember to see even the things that make me cranky as a gift! What a turnaround that would make in my attitude!
Great words of advice! Looking forward to these days : )
Lyssa´s last [type] ..My Only Experience in a Public High School, and a Call to Action
Huh! This is a completely new perspective of a common “problem” at our house! This is my year of Grace. Learning about it and praying to get some. Thanks!
We have the bedtime rumpus too! Great reminder, thanks.
I could use the book!!
Yeah, that hour before bed time is usually time spent with daddy being crazy. It drives me nuts but honestly, it’s not that bad. LOL!
my rumpus hour is from 5 -6 homework, dinner, waiting for dad… this is a great reminder….goes hand-in-hand with something i just read on another blog…
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/02/what-to-do-in-hard-times/
hoping that i can carry these messages with me.
ahhhh words I needed to see today! I think I am madly in love with calling it the Rumpus Hour, a la Where the Wild Things Are. It can be so difficult to remember that this is time to get out all that wild energy before settling down, and it can be a fabulous time of release for the whole family.
HeatherB´s last [type] ..Holey Heads and The Joy of Surgical Glue
I love the mob blog. Would love to win this give away
Let the wild rumpus begin! Ok, maybe I won’t ask for it, but will learn to enjoy it and relish those moments with my four growing boys!
Thanks for the perspective!
I LOVE watching the rumpus when my husband and two older boys are involved. Too funny. Thanks for the giveaway.
This book looks great!!!!
My kids need a bath EVERY night to curtail this. Good thoughts!
This is a hard time of the day for me as a mom, especially at the moment being 9mo pregnant (with 3rd boy) and SO tired! I would love to win this book!
I have three boys, and this definitely holds true in our house! My favorite time, though, is when they are finally in the bed and I can snuggle up with them for a few minutes. What a sweet sweet time.
Thank you for this post. It’s very relevant to the activity in our house in the evening and a good reminder for me. I’m finally getting to the point where I care about my wardrobe again after several years of babies and toddlers. This would be great. Thanks!
I just finished dealing with the pre-nap rumpus which may, in our house, be worse than the pre-bedtime one. Sigh… I could use a little extra patience as well.
Jenna´s last [type] ..I haven’t bragged in a while.
Love the rumpus! Embrace the rumpus for what it is! Thanks for the encouragement.
Great reminder to embrace the craziness that my boys bring to my life! Thanks for sharing.
I would love to win a copy of dis book. Thanks for da give away.
Thanks for the great reminder! I know when this short time passes I will miss their laughter and energy that fills our house each night.
Ah yes, the rumpus. Our house knows it well with 5 kiddos – the youngest one is a boy. He starts his imaginary dirtbike and does ‘laps’ around our coffee table at night, yelling “Ryan Dungey!!!” (if any of you are Supercross fans, you will appreciate this. LOL)
I would love to win the book giveaway – I would love to have a no-brainer wardrobe that actually looks good.
Thank you so much for defining the chaos that happens every night at our house! This was so timely! I have three little boys and I had been struggling with the chaos that occurs just before bed. And now I realize it’s just a boy thing. I will definitely be approaching tonight’s bedtime with a better attitute!
I do believe parenting should come with a warning label. It is a very loud experience for this only child who now has 2, 4 & 6 year old boys.
Jessica, thanks for the rumpus insight. I’d love this giveaway to land on my kindle! God knows i need help w/ attire.
Would love to hear what Hayley has to say. It’s hard to try to look cute but not care if what you’re wearing gets food all over it (I have 10 months old) and be comfortable for playtime all in the same outfit! I think how you look really effects your self esteem and it’s nice to look half way decent for your husband when he gets home!
Sounds like a lovely book!
love the new look. follow tiny twig already and would LOVE her ebook
holly´s last [type] ..currently…
My wardrobe is very lack lustre at the moment. I’d love that book. And thanks for the very timely post about the rumpus, and it really IS a rumpus, thanks I need to look at the rumpus with a fresh perspective
Would love some wardrobe help! Thanks. I also experience this hyperness at the end of day and it’s difficult for me too. Thanks for this reminder.
Loved this, thank you.
This is my first time here. A friend sent me this day’s post. I LOVED IT! I have two very rambunctious-at-bedtime boys. Call me naive, but I honestly thought it was just their traits, not common to all boys. What comfort!
I’ll be back again to visit your blog. Loved your true, perspective changing thoughts. Thanks!
I’d love to be entered for your drawing.
wetalk2biz(at)q(lowercase Q)(dot)com
Boy did I need this! Tonight was one of those nights and I needed the reminder that I am going to miss this
I just had my 5th baby, and they are all boys. Was so glad to see this blog today, and will definitely be following it! Thanks for the reminder of the gift my boys are–even at bedtime!
My 15 month old son even does this. Thank you for the reminder it’s normal!