Who knew?

When my husband A and I went to adoption classes in 2000, we knew we didn't know everything about kids. We knew that we had no idea what we were in for. Little did we know how little we knew.
When we met our son he was a smiling, giggling robust 3.5 yr old. Who knew that he could also be a screaming, foul mouthed lethal weapon? Man, that kid could punch. A is not a small man and the time C punched him full force in the chest in the middle of the store - people around us all gasped as the "thud" reverberated throughout the store.
We had no way of anticipating what parenthood would bring to us, what it would ask (DEMAND) of us. I found myself many days asking God to grant me more patience. I would try not to let out some hysterical laughter everytime someone would say "wow, you have so much more patience than I do", if they only knew. My mom used to have a wooden plaque with a rope hanging from it and it said "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on". My rope has many many knots in it and my hands are sore but I'm still here.