What exactly were you thinking?

What exactly were you thinking?!!!?

 I'm sure we've all thought it at one point or another. Someone does something that comes out of left field, or that doesn't follow the conventional way of doing things and then we stop in bewilderment, and try like crazy to understand what brought a person to a course of action. We are often left shaking our head.

I have four small children and I have this thought on an almost daily basis.... What were you thinking when you picked up your baby sister around the neck like a rag doll? What line of logic made you decide to tromp down the street in nothing but a pair shorts and your dad's dress shoes? What were you thinking when you decided to put stickers on every surface in my kitchen? What made you think that jumping off the couch into a pile of hard toys was somehow going to end well? Were you really thinking that after you painted my basement with four colours of finger paint that I'd accept your explanation that "Daddy told you to paint the basement"?

I come to the conclusion that kids do weird things. They do them often in my house. They do it in an attempt to take in the world and experience it for all it's worth. They thrive on excitement. They have a wonder for living and learning that can't be rivalled, and their line of logic is not neat and tidy. So, I'm afraid that in my house the ducks will never likely all be in a row. I'll never expect perfect kids, but then, my life will never be boring, either.

I can only hope that while they are still kids, that I can use the time I have to the best of my ability. I'll try to cause them to stop and think before they act. Maybe I'll get a little practise in on stopping to think before I react too.

See, I guess we can learn from other people's weird thoughts..... it's just not always the lesson we thought.