Motherhood demands so much from us. That hilarious piece of parenting advice, "Try to nap when the baby naps" goes completely out the window once it's your third child. That's what I tried to do the other day once the house got all quiet at nap time. Just as I dozed off to sleep baby #3 started crying emphatically, quickly followed by #2. #1 thought this was all good fun and started talking and yelling to his little sisters; apparently he had not napped at all.
You can't fight it. It is about complete and total surrender almost all the time. No nap for me. My "quiet time" is constantly punctuated by "Mommy...mommy....mommy." Whoever said, "It's nice to be needed" didn't understand this level of need.
The standards seem impossibly high. Women are judged as mothers by everyone. Society, their families, their in-laws, friends, other women, other moms......the list goes on and on. Some days I feel just on the verge of throwing in the towel. But I can't. I have to keep going. There is no quitting this job; no two weeks' notice.
And then there are those magical evenings like tonight where Mommy and Daddy end up singing silly songs and clapping to entertain the kids after dinner. Kai says something so adorable that makes our hearts melt. I forget all about him whining or having a temper tantrum earlier in the day. I forget the stress I felt just a few hours ago because of the kids. Sometimes they just give you this smile that lets you know they love you and in their own childish way--they appreciate the investment we're making into them. When I tuck him into bed on nights like these, I forget why I thought this job was tough in the first place. I breathe a little sigh of the relief that another day has passed successfully.
Then I thank God that I have the toughest job in the world......
.....and pray for what will come my way tomorrow.
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I think working at RMH and talking to the older volunteers has really helped me a lot. It's so fun to hear about all of their stories, how they wish they had more children, etc.
Oh- at MOPS we had a preacher as our speaker one time, and he said that once a month he goes to the preschool sunday school classes to speak. He would tell them to do at least one sweet thing every day so that their mother doesn't go to the looney bin, because those sweet things are what keeps mothers going.
It's so true, just when I want to turn in the towel they do something sooo sweet or discover a new talent. It's awesome.
What would be doing if we didn't have kids?? How boring!
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