We've had a bout with a few sicknesses going around this weekend. I snuck out late yesterday through the snowflakes sprinkling the yard to the soft glow of my Mom's house. I put my feet up a moment and said, "You know how people say to enjoy every moment when the kids are little? It's not realistic. It's not!" Because really, every moment? Every tantrum, or late night with a sick kid? Every mess? Every argument? There's just no way to enjoy it all.
"I think it means to be aware. To not charge through life always just doing the next thing, because someday you will wake up and it will be done. I feel that way sometimes..." Her baby is 17. She had babies over more years than I - 16 years between the oldest and youngest. But she says that it was such a mad dash, such a rush, so busy...that those years had a way of slipping on by.
I'm reminded of it when I try to convince those kids of mine to get a smaller tree this year. "We have no space in here! No place to put a big tree. How about something small we can just cram in that corner?" My girls are downright horrified. How can Mama not realize that the tree goes there, between the bookshelves? With twinkle lights visible through the deck door so when you make your way home from Grandma's, you can see it? They wore me down. We crammed a large tree in the normal spot, pushed furniture together and I can't even see how we can squish ourselves around the edges...but they don't notice. "Tree, TREE!" Peter cries as he makes his way down the stairs each morning. They don't notice that it leans awkwardly to one side. Or how the house seemed to shrink smaller still once we opened up the Christmas boxes.
Maybe that's what it means, as a Mom, to enjoy every moment. Maybe really it is to see the moment as your child sees it. To mine, this cluttered house in the midst of a full family virus is a magical Christmas wonderland. Those Christmas tunes on constant repeat are the soundtrack to excitement and awe. My kids don't see how cluttered the kitchen is as we wait for a repairman to come do some work, or the backlog of laundry I'm fighting through, or just how tight it is in the living room with 8 bodies, a tree and a few pieces of furniture. They only see light.
And when Mama sees it too, that light just seems to shine brighter. We light the second Advent candle this week and my kids can hardly contain their glee. "Just two weeks til Christmas!" I fight off an inward groan thinking of all that I need to do between now and then and instead smile back at them. Seeing the world as they do, I unlock more joy. Every moment.
{It's Mindful Mothering Mondays, a day to take a deep breath and write out your mothering journey, whatever form it takes. A day to link up for encouragement from others who are in this same phase of life. A day of writing out the trials and triumphs and what you're learning right where you are, right now.
You might post recent struggles or thoughts. Maybe just a picture or a quote. Or maybe you'll just come here and read the links that others post. Whatever form your participation takes, this is a day for you.
We are all in this, together. Together, we can encourage and build one another up, be honest with our shortcomings and strengthened by community to keep fighting the good fight.
I chose Mondays because what Mama doesn't need a little encouragement on a Monday? As such, I'll have the link up ready to go on Sunday night for you to begin submitting your links.
I hope you'll meet with me each Monday! Here's what to do ~
Link up your post below. Remember to put the link to the exact post you want to link, and not just your blog url. Include in your post a link back here so others who want to join in can find us! And visit some other Mamas who have linked up.
Post the community graphic within your post, so people who are reading your Mindful Mothering post can come back here and find the rest of us!
Invite the writers of your favorite blogs to join in!
Share this meme with others on facebook and twitter. This community is for all moms, and the more that participate, the more we will be able to enjoy!!}
Grab the graphic here:
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Love this post. I remember as a young mom feeling like we were just rushing. Rushing from milestone to milestone, clean up to clean up. Holiday visit, to holiday visit. It could be so over welming at times. And honestly, many moments I didn't savor. But looking back now (with grands!) I see we savored what we could, hung on to what didn't slip through our fingers in the rush. And survived! The things I beat myself up about my children have no recollection of. Their memories are the over sized trees that don't fit, the homemade wonky ornaments (that we still hang today), the baking. The sharing time with mama. xoxo
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