If you mop all of the floors, your baby WILL tear off his diaper and pee on them as soon as you are finished, and the olders will track in most of the backyard in on their shoes in record time.
If you spend the morning bathing everyone and combing hair, you will discover your 3 year old sitting in a mud puddle and your 5 year old enthusiastically dripping in popsicle stickiness roughly 45 minutes later.
As frustrating as it all can be (can't I have clean floors for 10 minutes? PLEASE?), it also serves as a reminder for me: I don't do this for what I get out of it. I do it to serve those I love the most in the world. Although I often feel more like crying than laughing when I find my cell phone in the bottom of a toilet or spot a child standing near a knitting project with scissors in hand, isn't this what it really is about? Kids learn by touching and doing and repeating over and over and over until they FINALLY get it. Its my job to patiently work with them all the way. Its why I stay home. Not to have a spotless home, but to be a soft place to land for my little ones. To show them the right path.
And if that means my floors are mysteriously sticky and my children look like they live in the wild, then so be it. God, my kids and I all know the truth. Its about service, not perfection.
So if you see me out and about with a child with a messy face, try not to judge me too harshly!
Love this post!!!
ReplyDeleteSo true:)
ReplyDeleteAhh yes. It is so true and so hard to swallow some days. It truly is a labor of love and their cuteness is their saving grace somedays. But remember that to our Heavenly Father this job is vital and so important, I know you know this. You do such a good job Lyd!
ReplyDeleteThe multi tasking jobs of motherhood sometimes make my head spin. I am always having to pull back and slow down. When I am approached with "mommy, will you play with me?" or "mommy, will you read this book to me?" I have to shove my daily chores aside and remember that my time with them is fleeting - going so incredibly fast. Chores will always be here, my children will not.
ReplyDelete