today i got sick.

not only did i catch a cold, i caught it on six hours of broken sleep (both girls were up twice in the night).

i caught it at work, where the advil i really needed in the workroom was two years expired.

i tried to rest with it at home for a short time, while my older two didn't want to nap (and sailor definitely didn't want to rest quietly in her bed and let mama sleep).

and i had to take all three kids (two napless, and one with a cold - wonder who i caught this from?) to the church tonight so i could decorate the children's ministries area for christmas.

is it any wonder i was short-tempered and out-of sorts? i was pretty ashamed of my parenting behavior today, which involved frustrated sighs, covert tears, and some not-so-covert yelling.

the difficulty with parenting is this: as much as we desire to be perfect parents, we are never perfect people.

some days we are less perfect than others.

Lord, help my children give me grace.

help me give myself grace.

on second thought, just help me.

and throw in a good night's sleep, while you're at it. :)