The Results

Did we leave the house by 3:00? No.
Jayla loved being in charge....for quite a while. She actually did get the boys ready. (Onyx's outfit was my favorite, he had on 4 different shades of gray) She 'folded' laundry and emptied the dishwasher (no dishes broken, sigh of relief. No sign of my coffe pot parts this morning when I was READY FOR MY COFFEE, sigh of irritation. She was able to quickly locate them for me though).
At 3:00 when Clover and I came out of hiding, refreshed and ready to go, the house was in a less than desirable state overall. She had given snacks out and there was dry cereal all over the floor among other things....there was still work to be done, and a point to be made.
I waited for her to finish the preparations to leave.
She ended up breaking down and crying over books.
Books that she had gotten off her bookshelf, moved to the playroom, and was unable to stack back up on the bookshelf again.
She needed help.
It's hard to be the grown up and do all that work.
It's fun to be the boss, but the list of things to do is long and tiring.
Grown-ups have much responsibility.
At the age of 6, it's better to be a kid.
Mom does know best how to handle things around the house.
When she is a mom, it will be her time.
Until then, we're in agreement to let me call (most of) the shots.
We hugged.
We talked.
She apologized.
I apologized for getting so angry at her.
We completed the work together and tidied up the house.
We walked out the door, friends again.

Jayla is a super sweet girl. Tender hearted, nurturing, and loving. She will make a wonderful mother one day. She could be a competent buisness woman, an excellent teacher. She will be able to accomplish much because she works hard. She has tons of iniative and drive. Like the rest of us, within her complete package, her weaknesses are wrapped up right along with her strengths. When taken to an extreme, it seems all of our strengths can quickly become our downfall. What we love most about one another, can drive us the craziest in certain situations.

My heart melts for that girl. She is so much like me and I feel for her because I know she will have many of the same struggles as I do. I want to help her to strive for balance and to recognize when it is appropriate to step forward and take the lead, and when she can step back and fall into formation as a good follower....a skill I am working on myself...to do what God would have me to do, whether it be lead or follow, or how to combine the two in every circumstance I find myself in day by day so that He alone may ultimately receive the glory.

Another day of "winging it" for me....completely unsure of how to best do this job of training up these children in the way they should go....asking for grace and mercy every step of the way.