My kitchen is a disaster, but at least my kids know that I can still act silly! I decided to make tonight different. Different how, you say...well here is a run down of a typical night at our house...
...Get homework done without any one's brain exploding...making a somewhat nutritious meal without the house burning down...reading books without me falling asleep and drooling on the kids...all four kids jammied, teeth brushed, prayers said, clean hands and face in a reasonable amount of time, and then the next hour is me practicing an insane amount of patience until the very last eye is closed, and no one is getting out of bed for "one more glass of water." Then there is the jungle of dishes and toys to wade through. I try my best to get the house in order so we don't wake up to yesterday's mess.
...Tonight we turned on the radio (which happened to be Christmas music) and danced, played tag and rolled around on the floor. The kids have this new game where they all hold onto the back of my shirt and I run around the house shouting "Has anyone seen my kids!" It's quite amusing. And yes, my shirts get stretched out. :)
I made a goal a long time ago to never let my kids go to bed angry or sad. Sometimes in all my exhaustion I forget that when I am tucking them neatly into their beds. I hate the guilt I feel when I am lying in bed and I realize all the things I didn't do for them or the time I didn't spend with them.
I must say, even though my kitchen is a mess because I am now too tired to clean it after all that running around I did, I am glad that my kids went to bed with a smile on their faces. I am not sure if the smile meant, "My mom is the coolest Mom in the world!" or "Gee, my mom is a goof ball!" Either way, the dishes will be waiting for me tomorrow.
2 comments:
I've got a chalk board with a phrase written on it in big letters sitting where I pass by it quite often. The phrase says "I don't HAVE to do anything" It's a reminder that everything I do I choose to do. There's no having to do this or that or the world ends. I still am alive whether the grass gets mowed, whether my homework gets done etc. It helps remove the stress from thinking there's so much to do and not enough time to do it in.
We're here to have joy, not clean houses, not perfection, not smarts, not so many other things that are considered of top priority. It's also not possible to be happy all of the time, but it makes more sense to be happy. It makes more sense to be happy than healthy.... weird huh? If you're happy then the body can do amazing things that even the most germ-free body can do. I think that works in spiritual realms as well as physical. Perfection seems to be some rigid, free-from-any-kind-of-sin, when it really should be happiness at its best :)
You are such a wonderful mother and your kids are so lucky. I'm gonna have to take a page from your book and remember to be more silly myself.
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