This article depicts real life experiences. The views and experiences are real, but should not be attempted to be duplicated. When necessary Sher receives support from her Heavenly Father for emergency supplies of patience and grace. Only if circumstances become life threatening will she receive intervention from her husband, as required by health and safety regulations. On some occasions, situations are presented to Sher so he can demonstrate survival techniques. Professional advice should always be sought before entering any dangerous environment.
It is 8 degrees below zero and Sher Grafylls has been dropped via Providence into a populated but wild part of the American plains. She has minimal supplies and must get through her day despite the freezing temps and wiley man-cubs that are in her care. At the moment Sher is attempting to bundle up all three man-cubs with what she has on hand, finish making her bread, warm up the van and get out the door within a ten minute window. But circumstances are working against her, as well as nature. Luckily her husband has opened the garage door that would normally be frozen shut under these bitter temps. He has also plugged in her van – what a man!
After ensuring her cubs to remain inside she exits the house to start the van. Upon returning she instructs her man-cubs to all cooperate in exiting the house and entering the van. This is a dicey situation as they are known to fight and fool around in general instead of getting their seat belts fastened. Still she bravely sends them out while kneading down her dough to put into the pans – food that the man-cubs will need later to survive. A few minutes pass and she hears screaming from outside, her middle charge re-enters the house wailing. He explains the tussle between him and his brother and the resulting injury to his knee. She is running out of time and patience, she must get her eldest cub to his art lesson with less than 5 minutes to spare. Clear thinking and quick action are needed to ensure success.
Upon careful examination of the injury and some basic first aid, she bravely wills away the nausea produced by removing gravel from his bloody knee. She uses what is commonly observed in caring for such wiley creatures – her angry mom voice – to recall the offending brother into the house for a cross-examination. Patiently she leads them through apologies, trying but not entirely successfully to hold back her "I told you" so's. Arrangements are made to appease each other. Rules for entering the van are reassessed together as a group. They are once again sent out.
Upon completion of her last minute chores she heads out into the bitter cold and successfully makes it to the van. There she learns that while waiting on the two oldest man-cubs the youngest has taken this opportunity to poop in his Batman underwear. This is an emergency like none other. She breathes out her frustration, laughs at the irony of their current memory verse (the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience….ya-da, ya-da), looks at the clock – art class is beginning now. Upon discussing the situation with her charges and assessing the disappointment in her oldest cub's eyes at missing class entirely, she makes a last minute attempt to rescue the mission. After a quick clean up and review with the youngest once again of where we do and do not poop, they are back in the van and off to art class.
When they arrive at their first destination she has to decide if she wants to drag them all out in the cold or leave the youngest two restrained…errr…safely seat belted in…the van. Using the resources around her are key to survival in this bitter environment. She employs the two key method to avoid further delays – locking the children in the van with it running and the distract-a-tron (video) playing. She is back within 60 seconds and then must decide if they will go to the local grocery store with their 25 mins to kill or to the library. One cub votes grocery, the other the library. What's a mom to do? Eventually she chooses neither remembering another errand they need to run. Luckily the newspaper doesn't charge for their remnant rolls (which she will use later as art paper) bc upon arriving their she realizes she has her purse but no wallet. This actually comes in handy when they visit the library after all and her toddler asks to get Elmo Fire Station for the zillionth time. Rescued from having to watch it again, alas she has no wallet and no library card.
Later in the day they all arrive safely home including her husband close behind. Everyone is in tack and will be fed…eventually. Ongoing survival is dependent upon regular refreshment for this mom. So after filing a brief report with hubby she gathers her things and happily heads off to her lunch appointment. Her weekly half-day-out couldn't have come at a better time. At the last minute she remembers an important step she missed – she quickly brushes her teeth before leaving the house! Her husband once again is her hero and is left at home to manage the man-cubs… and hopefully remember to take the bread out of the oven before it burns.
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