With Mother’s Day approaching this weekend I started thinking about my nearly 6 years of being a Mom and thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned from my children. . .
1. I still have no idea what I’m doing. Child 3 has made this perfectly clear. Why I still can’t get a baby to sleep alone during the day is beyond me. I thought I had it figured out but the six weeks of newborn bliss is now over and I’m left to decipher the meaning of his baby cries and wander the house with him in my arms or strapped to my body.
2. I will never truly enjoy playing Lightning McQueen Cars or Thomas the Trains, it’s just not in my DNA. I’ve tried, I’ve faked it but I don’t even attempt it anymore. However, I can’t say “no” when it comes to reading books with the boys. We usually have 12-20 books out from the public library at a time and love snuggling on the couch with blankets and reading a whole stack of them before naps or bedtime. It’s one thing I remember from my childhood and something I hope my boys will too.
3. No matter how hard I try it is impossible to get boys to play nonviolent games. I fought hard against this one but boys will turn any object into a weapon regardless of its original purpose. Example: My boys have coveted their friend’s plastic light sabers for years but I always said I’d never pay money for a toy that is solely meant for whacking others with. That is until I caught the boys in the backyard using the heavy metal rakes as light sabers. . . it was then I wished I had bought the plastic ones, a much safer choice.
4. Never say never. I’ve used my shirt as a tissue, let my kids watch TV way too much on some days, had my boys use an empty water bottle to pee in, made Dino nuggets for lunch and McDonalds for dinner, used every kind of bribery known to man. All things I probably would have never done before having kids but are now survival techniques.
5. That I don’t get paid nearly enough for this job. However, life often hands me very small bonuses and when I put them all together I am reminded how lucky I am. I still tear up when I think of the day each of my boys’ was born- truly miraculous. Having Jamison wake up smiling at me after a very long night, watching Carson get off the bus after the first day of Kindergarten, seeing Spencer’s beautiful hands, listening to them pray for each other, watching Carson being protective over Spencer on the playground, hearing them giggle in their rooms long after the lights have been turned off. . . and the list continues. All very small rewards for this job, so small sometimes I have to remind myself to look for them.
Print | posted on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 2:10 PM