the BEST Malcolm in the Middle EVER

 (note: I would like Lori Gillis Brady to comment and tell me: do you relate to Malcolm in the Middle at all, because I TOTALLY do! laugh and cry till I nearly pee my pants all the TIME! Oh and Krystal Gabert... not sure if you'll be able to tolerate reading this because my thoughts are flying so fast from my brain that I cannot AT ALL promise to use appropriate punctuation!)

Kay so I just finished watching the BEST Malcolm in the Middle EVER! Hal and Lois are trying to work on their will... it is HILLARIOUS! It's a clip show where they just continually flashback and I was seriously peeing my pants laughing. Now some of you normal parents with just a couple of kids or a boy and a girl or even MANY girls... you're sitting there thinking Malcolm in the Middle? She realtes to Malcolm in the Middle? Seriously? But anyone out there (c'mon Lori AGREE with me) who has 3 or more boys KNOWS that this tv show is so much more reality than fiction.... so anyways they are flashing back to how bad there finances are, how they have no one to whom they could leave their kids and on and on.... eventually they end up in the kitchen bawling...."we are terrible parents" they lament.... Hal says something like, "What idiot in Washington thought it was a good idea to allow US to be parents?!?!" At this point I am laughing so hard I am about to pee my pants.... John and I have been through those moments... those "what in the world were we thinking we were not at all equipped to handle one child much less four (in all actuality seven)" moments.... so I'm laughing so hard I'm about to pee and then they throw me the sucker punch.... you hear a loud thump and then Dewey is screaming, "My head! My head! I hurt my head!" He comes running out of his bedroom clutching his head and Hal and Lois just snap into action (proving how stupid there lamenting was)... Lois comforts and distracts... Hal tosses her an ice pack and the phone running for Dewey's stuffed animal.... in the middle of this they start discussing which emergency room is closer most available best.... Lois dials the pediatrician's number from memory... Hal whisks Dewey towards the door... Dewey says, "Can I have an apple juice box?".... Lois goes to the fridge and says, "We only have apple cherry." Hal replies, "Of course we only have apple cherry." And Lois closes with, "We are the worst parents EVER." And I am just bawling because the irony of those words uttered just after they snapped into action like a well-oiled machine capably handling the emergency is NOT lost on me!

I LOVE the message of this episode! It was SCREAMING at me: You look at things and you judge whether you (or others) are good parents based upon how neat the house is, how obedient the children are, the grades on the report cards, the lack of detentions and the abundance of trophies.... but in reality here's what makes you a good parent: LOVING your children... loving them like no one else can.... in the midst of small objects shoved up nostrils, sticks of butter being ejected from the DVD player, stitches, calls to poison control, and broken bones... do NOT think you are a bad parent... realize God chose you to be this child's parent.... realize NO ONE on this earth loves your children like you love your children.... and hang onto the fact that before you know it these rowdy, crazy, needy children will be driving away to hang with their friends and practice with the team and go to youth group.... before you know it you will LONG for the poverty and sleep deprivation of these days because you will finally realize what EVERYONE has been telling you, "THESE ARE THE BEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE!!!"

Okay so in closing I never ever watched Malcom in the Middle when it was on prime time... a few months ago John started watching reruns of it, and before you knew it I was IN LOVE with this show... every time I watch it I relate to it somehow... I told all the kids in my youth group, "I dare you to watch this show and not think of the Kastners." So if you have never watched it... you should give it a try. (and then if you do watch it, I dare you to NOT think of the Kastners.) And if you are the mother of small children and today you are feeling inadequate to parent the children given to you take heart! As my wise momma says, "You are not raising successful children; you are raising successful adults."

Hope this made you think a little or at least laugh a little.... have a GREAT day.