My wife went to London this week, taking some of our girls to a family wedding over winter vacation. I’ve been home with the triplets and our eleven-year-old son.
My new title appears to be: Briber-in-chief. Father-and-mother-in-chief. And 24-hour-a-day-head-security-
“If you get into pajamas, you can video call Mommy.” (Highly effective motivation!)
“If you go to bed without pinching your sister, you can have a treat in the morning.”
“If you stop hitting your brother over the head with your negel vasser bowl, you can ride your scooter to school in the morning.”
“If you get dressed nicely, you can watch a video.”
“If you shower now, I’ll play Stratego with you.”
Meanwhile, there’s a running countdown in my head. “Shevy is coming back in 6 days and 3 hours.” Then 5 days, 4 days, and as I write this, I have another 19 hours, 36 minutes, and 6 seconds to go!
Every hour there’s another incident. One morning a child wanted to go outside, but it was freezing so I said no. What did he do? He protested by kicking his shoes off!
Another child lost his toy and proceeded to blame me, even though I was miles away when he’d been playing with it! He roped me into searching for it for two hours, and thank G-d, and with numerous prayers, we finally located it.
And every hour I tell myself, “You’ve got this! Only x amount of hours left to go!”
I’m on duty every hour that they’re awake. (Luckily, I was able to convince them that it was bedtime two hours early so I could have a little time to myself!)
I’ve been taking care of all their needs, all day. I’ve had to be constantly engaged and present: What are they having for breakfast before school? Are their backpacks ready? Are they dressed for the weather? Do they have what they need for school? And then after school it starts all over again.
It dawned on me that this is what our Father in Heaven does for us all day, every day, for our entire lives. I was on duty for one week, and it has been quite overwhelming. Meanwhile, He is tuned in to each individual every day with no break. No one’s coming back in a week to take over for Him.
He is our parent, our guard, our director, taking our needs and wants into consideration all day, every day, for our entire lives.
We complain to Him, we ask for things He hasn’t given us, and let’s be honest—we’re not always that good about showing our gratitude. Nevertheless, His love for us is infinite, and he lovingly takes care of our needs regardless.
How can we repay Him? How can we show our appreciation? By making this world a comfortable place for Him. The more mitzvot we do, the more spiritually we uncover in the world, the more He feels at home here. So light Shabbat candles this week. Come to shul. Invite a friend for Shabbat or reach out to someone you know is having a tough time. Make a blessing before you eat or say Shema before bed at night. Each small act we do shows we acknowledge and appreciate G-d’s involvement in every moment of our lives.
And having done it for a week, I can now say I have a whole new appreciation for my wife too!