Mothering

It was a busy Friday afternoon after a busy week. Eli and I had been running errands all day. He was tired. I was tired. He was hungry. I was hungry. I had a million things to do before it was time to leave for this event that I was planning. My alarm buzzes, time to go get Sophie! We scramble in the car and I go through the always traumatic car pool line. The car pool line is the worst! Luckily, we made it though the line without anyone honking at us. I decide to be the fun mom and stop at Lee's and get the kids doughnuts since it was Friday and to be honest, I saw a doughnut at my friends house earlier and was craving a Lee's maple bar. As we walk in, I remember I have an errand at the bank in the store so I bribe the kids "if you can stand and wait quietly while I am at the bank, you can pick out a doughnut"
"yes mom! We promise mom!" Well, as soon as start standing in line, Eli immediately grabs an umbrella that is for sale and start dancing with it. It is really cute and a few people start looking and smiling at him. He is soaking up the attention. His smile is bright and happy. Most of the people around us are smiling and giving him praises. "He is acting so bad" I overhear one lady say to someone, the look on Eli's face tells me he heard it too. And just like a light switch, he clicked off and started causing all sorts of problems. He started instigating fights with Sophie, trying to run away, trying to bother all the other people in the line.

I manage to get both kids home safely and Eli's bad attitude continued at home. By this time, I was frazzled to the very max.

I start the chicken noodle soup I am supposed to bring to an activity that night. Eli does not like this and continues his ranting. I try taking a break from my cooking to snuggle but by now his tears and anger are just flowing and snuggles are not helping. I go back to my cooking and inspirations hits! In my silliest voice, I ask Eli to come help me make the soup. He actually calmed down a bit and joins me.

The carrots he is chopping are all different sizes and since I am taking the soup to a party, I have Eli put his carrots in his own special pot of soup. He gets so excited he yells out "yay!" and starts to clap.

I start making potty jokes and Eli is in heaven. By the time it was time to leave, he was proud of his soup and excited for our next outing.

Why am I telling this story? This is what mamas do all day. Its these little moments that we have little moments of patience and inspiration that can lead to big, happy memories. These memories build foundations of love and self-esteem for our kids.

Mothering is hard. It is so hard. Mothering doesn't have a 30 minute lunch break or pretty much any down time throughout the day. Mothering doesn't have a checklist that will ever get completed.

Mothering does have messy hands giving messy hugs. Mothering does give me my rings on my apple watch completed everyday because I chase Eli so much. Mothering stretches me further than I ever thought possible, and just when I think I am a rubber band about to snap, it is 8:00 and the kids are asleep and I can binge watch my TV shows and shrink down to my regular size.

Mothering also has the easy, simple, beautiful side. That is why people have more than one child:) There are lots of moments that I gain confidence and realize that I am doing a good job at this gig called motherhood, just as I see so many of my friends totally rockin it!

So, I guess the reason I wanted to share this is two fold. Number one, please only say nice things to people in the grocery store. Words can really have a huge affect on little kids. Number two, let's all just try a little harder to celebrate when we accomplish something! Even if is just making dinner or finally getting the laundry folded.