Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Puke-fest Redemption.

I'm hunkered down at my computer, shoveling a completely unhealthy and ridiculous lunch of veggie straws into my mouth with one hand while typing a quick post with the other. The dryer is going, the dishwasher is running, the kids are napping ... thus, a brief reprieve.

This morning has been awesome. Wait, rewind. Last night was decidedly unawesome. Mostly. Cub threw up in the car (in a cup! Miracle of miracles!) and thusly the greater part of the night was spent rubbing his back while he puked ("Will you please rub my back, Mommy, and help the throw-up come out??) and snuggling with him in our bed. Poor buddy was a wreck last night.

And was, of course, the spitting image of health and vitality this morning. Go figure.

Needless to say, that puke-fest resulted in the cancellation of our plans this morning. Even though Cub is acting fine, let's not kid ourselves: Sickness lurks. ALWAYS. And, no need to spread our germs to friends.

Anyway. So, this morning? It's been awesome. Our forced quarantine has manifested itself into a day of playing "school". Cub picked a whistle out of the treasure box at his (real) school yesterday, so today I tied it to a ribbon and made a lanyard for him to wear around his neck. Y'ALL. GENIUS. The child is overjoyed that he now looks like a "coach", and we have spent our morning under his direction. We firstly did P.E. Then we read books. Then they watched 20 minutes of Super Why while I did laundry and started the broth for dinner. Then we colored, together. Then we built blocks, together. Then they had "pretend" nap time, so I snuck into the kitchen and made them sack lunches, to continue with the theme. So cute. Cub loved making up different "stations" for us to do, one of which included a water bead bath for he and Naomi, while Lydia took a real nap. And I've had so much fun slowing down and playing with the kids, not just finding things for them to do.

I remember seeing something floating around Pinterest that compared a "good" mom to a "godly" mom. One of the qualities of a "good" mom was that she finds activities for her kids to do, while a "godly" mom focuses on building relationships with her kids. Oy. Y'all, I am so guilty of being the activity Mom. Crafts, coloring, what have you ... all things that are fine and even good for kids to do, but I very often find myself using that time to get other things done around the house, while the kids are occupied. That isn't always a bad thing--I mean, the laundry has to get done at some point. Really. But, could I slow down and spend just a few minutes engaging the kids and joining them in their fun? Absolutely.

Because, as my friend and I often remind each other, once our children were birthed and we launched into motherhood, we did not choose to stay at home so we could do laundry. We did not choose to stay at home so we could have vacuumed carpets or clean sinks.

We are stay-at-home Moms.

And, I am totally guilty of allowing the other things in life to crowd out the one thing I truly stayed home to do: To be a Mom.

(And, really, even if I was working, I could still see myself stressing over the "other" things that need to get done, instead of hanging out with the kids when I was home. I mean, really stressing. Working Moms are my heros.)

I'm not glad Cub puked his guts out last night. I would have perhaps preferred another reason to slow down. And I'm sad that our plans were canceled. But, I am very thankful that God used this morning to remind me of the joy my kids bring into my life ... and the joy that I bring into theirs.

And, lo and behold, the other stuff is getting done, too. Just maybe in slower increments than what is convenient. But, meh, it will get done.

As in now, during nap time. Gotta run. :)

Have a lovely day!

2 comments:

  1. Side note? Stay at home moms are my heroes. I can't do it. I need... to get out. I need interaction. I need to be productive for other people. Haha.. I dunno. It's weird.
    I think you do an absolutely amazing job with those beautiful babes of yours, and you are one of my Mommy-Heroes, for sure. :-D Don't be too hard on yourself. :-)

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  2. Way late on commenting, but FYI, this is just what I needed to read today. And every day. All day. ;)

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