Gibberish

I'm beginning to  feel like Charlie Brown's mother..."Wah wah wah."  I do a great deal of talking but apparently nothing I say is intelligible, at least to my kids.  I'm confident that they hear me or at least can see my lips moving, but the part where they listen and obey is not happening tonight.  It's been a trying evening, as you can tell.  Even the dog is ignoring me!

I have just tucked our little cherubs into bed.  For some reason, his part of the night tends to be so frustrating.  Once I've made the announcement that bedtime has arrived, my children, who were moments ago bouncing off the walls with excess energy, can hardly drag themselves up the stairs.  We have a fight to see who will use the potty first.  Then we each have to pee one drop at a time, agonize over how much toilet paper to use, and waste another four minutes wiping.  Heaven help us if somebody actually has to poo!  That's another thirteen minutes!  
Then there is the ritual of praying, singing, and kisses.  Usually prayer time is observed by mom and dad while the rest of the herd tries to see who can burp the loudest.  After a hurried verse of, "Jesus Loves Me", everybody has a turn to be hugged, kissed, and tucked in.  At this point, they become very inquisitive and begin to ponder the meaning of life.  There goes another seven minutes explaining that God loves us...especially when we're sleeping.
The next half hour is random questions being asked and answered as we yell to one another between upstairs and downstairs . 
"Mommy, can I have a drink?"
"No."
"Can I take off my socks?"
"Yes."
"Can you put my socks back on?"
"NO!  JUST GO TO SLEEP!"

As I came down the stairs this evening, God brought this verse to my mind.  
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal.  1 Corinthians 13:1

By the time we have everybody tucked in, there is not a lot of love left in my voice.  Maybe my kids have a hard time listening to me sometimes because they really are just hearing, "Wah wah wah."