parenting

Mommy Mantra

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I’ve been a mother for almost 15 years and for most of that time I have often felt the need to sort of validate what I do as a mom.  I find myself telling people – random people – that I have five kids just in everyday conversation as if it makes a difference in whatever it is we are doing at the time.  At the doctor’s office, at the grocery store – randomly I’ll mention that I have ‘however many’ kids because somehow I feel somewhere inside of me that it makes me better, stronger, more impressive.  Or maybe I think it will somehow excuse the messy hair and mismatched socks.  Why do I do that?!  Every single time that I randomly mention my motherly plight to the worker in the Chick-fil-A drive-thru (or some other unknown person) I feel immediate regret.  I know how ridiculous it is to feel the need to compulsively bring up my mommying in casual conversation for no good reason at all, yet I still do it almost daily.

I think, as moms, we have this innate need to compete with each other in order to prove we know what we’re doing.  We’re okay.  We’re gonna make it.  We’re a good momma.  We have good kids.  I’m sure that the biggest reason we do this is because none of us actually feels that we are any good at this mothering thing after all.  It’s a hard gig.  With little to no encouragement along the way – other than the sweet little macaroni necklaces we get every month or so from well meaning Sunday School teachers – I mean from our sweet babies – that are covered in paint and glue (all still wet).  But glue, paint and macaroni can only keep a momma going for so long and then we need to tell everyone – again – how hard it all is and how we seem to somehow manage it (cue the wonder woman theme song).

I don’t know about you but I’m really weary of this unhealthy little dance we do.  I read a quote on Facebook the other day and I think it should be our new “Mommy Mantra”:

“I am not interested in competing with anyone.  I hope we all make it.” – Erica Cook

What if we started feeling that way toward other moms?  Would that change the way we talked when we’re around them?  Or better yet, what if we actually believed that this is how other moms feel too!?  Would our need to compete start to fade away?  Would we stop acting like motherhood is some sort of game where we spend all our time pushing each other down, changing the rules, setting up booby traps and hoping that we’re left standing at the end?  Mommying is so hard – even without the competition.  Add in Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest and we’re all feeling like failures pretty much all of the time.

Can we all just declare a truce?  A mommy truce?  Let’s take the time to encourage each other.  Let’s spend more time worrying about what our kids think of us and less time worrying about what the stranger in the Target check out lane is thinking about the twelve boxes of lucky charms in our shopping cart.  I won’t judge you … you don’t judge me.

Let’s all say this Mommy Mantra together:

Mommying is hard work.

You’re doing a good job.  

I’m doing a good job.  

Let’s not compete with each other.  

I hope we all make it!

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Bittersweet Endings

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I’m officially done nursing babies.

I have nursed five babies.  The first one was only for about 6 weeks – but it totally counts because breastfeeding is hard work!  The next 3 nursed for about 8 months each and then decided they were done.  No idea why.  It was always very abrupt.  They would nurse just fine and then one day they didn’t want to nurse anymore.  Every single time I was both happy and sad.  Breastfeeding is both wonderful and hard.  My babies were so attached to me during the time that they were nursing.  So much so that they would rarely take anyone else for any extended period of time.  It was exhausting.  All of my babies nursed through the night and none of them slept through the night until at least 8 months old.  Again, exhausting.  Totally, totally wonderful and worth it – but exhausting nonetheless.  My fifth baby (who happens to be my only boy) nursed until about three days ago.  This is well past the eight month record set by the previous babies.  He turned one in mid-March, so he actually nursed past his first birthday, which felt like an enormous accomplishment for me.  At the same time, I knew it was about time to wean him (because of the attachment issues).  Many, many moms nurse well past the first birthday and I think that’s wonderful.  We just knew that for our family, it was coming time to make a change.

This baby is my last baby.  He’s the last one.  I’m very comfortable with our decision to not have anymore babies (for many reasons), but it is still very bittersweet to know that he is that last baby I will ever nurse.  So, I have been determined to really enjoy this time with him.  I’ve been very sentimental about nursing my last baby.  We made the decision to wean him in a couple of weeks.  I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself to be done.  I have been both excited (goodbye ugly nursing bra) and a bit sad.  A few days ago I ended up with a massive ear infection that required medicine that I couldn’t take while nursing.  So, I stopped nursing.  Just like that I’m done.  No warning, no preparation, no last time…done.

In my parenting journey, there have been so many of these bittersweet endings.  Last time the pregnancy test will read positive.  Last time I’ll go to the hospital to have a baby.  Last time I’ll buy little baby onesies.  Last first bath and last first steps.  Last time nursing my last baby.  Each time I felt the same emotions.  It’s all bittersweet.  But it’s all so wonderful too.

A very wise woman once told me that the purpose of parenting is to “teach and train your kids to leave”.  Every time I hit one of these bittersweet endings I remind myself of this purpose.  I want to raise amazing babies that turn into amazing kids and then amazing teens and eventually amazing adults.  I want to teach them and train them to be world changers.  I want to celebrate every step they take on their journey toward independence.  I want to treasure all of these lasts so that I will remember the role that I have played in each of the firsts.  How beautiful it is to be a mother.  How incredibly blessed I am that God would allow me to share in the lives of such amazing little people.  I am so grateful for each of these bittersweet endings and I pray that God will prepare me for the even more difficult endings to come.

The Fullness of His Love

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“An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children.  He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others…   His love has not changed.  It hasn’t cooled off, and it needs no increase because He has already loved us with infinite love and there is no way that infinitude can be increased…

He is the same yesterday, today and forever!”

– A. W. Tozer

As a mom of five, I find this quote to be so very beautiful.  I very much desire to give each of my children all of myself every single day of their lives so that they will never want for motherly affection, understanding or attention.  I also know how incredibly difficult it is to feel that there is enough of me to go around sometimes.  As a parent, I have to prioritize the needs of my children in order to make sure everyone gets taken care of.  I have to actually spend time figuring out how to “fit it all in” every single day.  I don’t want any of my children to ever feel neglected, ignored or less important than anyone else – although I’m sure that from time to time they do.  Although I LOVE being a mother and having a large family, I have to admit that I often feel ill-equipped for the task.

Thankfully, the same is not true of God.  He does not have to split His attention between His children. He never has to sacrifice time with one child in order to spend time with another one.  He does not ever feel stretched, spent, tired, weary or unable to “fit it all in”.  Tozer said, “…to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.”

Ephesians 3:14-19 says:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

That we may be filled with ALL the fullness of God!  What a beautiful thought!

There is a song by John Legend that I cannot seem to stop singing lately.  I love the lyrics of this song.  It, of course, was written for his wife but the words of the chorus are such a beautiful picture of love with a whole heart – love to the fullest.  I wonder if this is at least a small glimpse of the way that God loves each one of us – deeply, unconditionally, fully as if there were no others.

“Cause all of me loves all of you

Love your curves and all your edges – all your perfect imperfections

Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you

You’re my end and my beginning – even when I lose I’m winning

Cause I give you all of me – and you give me all of you.”

I hope you’ll take a moment today to reflect on the way that God loves you – the fullness and sufficiency of His love.

Rest in His infinite love today – He is more than enough for you!

My little lost sheep

Last night as we were getting ready to go to church for rehearsal, at some point Maya went missing.  I thought she was in the play room with the other two girls and I slipped away to go brush my teeth and hair while Ricky loaded the carseats in the car.  I came back a few minutes later to get them cleaned up and dressed.  I called for Maya but she didn’t come.  So I started searching (not worried, just in a bit of a hurry).  Couldn’t find her anywhere.  I called to Ricky to help me find her – still thinking that she must be hiding behind a chair or table somewhere.  My house isn’t that big so when I didn’t find her in about five minutes I started to panic.  I called to Syd and Elisa to help us look.  We looked in bathtubs, closets, cabimets, in laundry baskets, in the back yard and the front yard all while calling out her name.  After about ten or fifteen minutes of searching high and low I called 911. 
He started asking me questions about how much she weighed or how tall she was, her date of birth, what she was wearing – most of which I couldn’t remember because of the state of mind that I was in.
About a hundred scenarios rushed through my mind as I was running up and down my street calling her little name terrified that she wouldn’t be found.
As the police were less than a minute away (I heard sirens), Elisa came out the front door yelling that they found her!  At first I didn’t believe it – I said “What do you mean you found her?” confused at how she could just suddenly show back up.  Apparently she was hiding in the very back of my closet behind the low hanging clothes.  What’s crazy is that I looked in that closet twice – and even looked behind that rack of clothes!  I called to her when I was looking in there and she didn’t answer.  I still am very curious about what was going through her little mind as she hid for 30 minutes without a peep while we were frantically calling for her to come out.
I can’t even put to words how I felt when I thought she was lost – and how I felt after she had been found.

I wonder if that’s how God feels about us.  I wonder if He feels that same kind of pain when we’re trying to hide from Him and refusing to be found.  I know that He knows where we are and so doesn’t experience fear.  I wonder, though, if the pain He feels for His lost sheep is anything like the pain I felt last night about my little lost sheep.  I wonder if, when His lost sheep return if He feels anything like I did last night when mine showed back up.

I think the part of all of it that still amazes me is that when we found Maya she had no idea anything was happening.  I couldn’t control my sobbing when I was finally holding her again – and she just kept looking at me trying to figure out what in the heck was wrong with her crazy mommy.  She had no idea that she was the one that caused the pain.

I have a feeling that there’s a lesson there for us.  I’m still a little too weary and shaken up to explore it fully.  But I know this.  If God loves me more than I love Maya (and I know He does b/c He’s the source of the love in the first place), then I know He must feel so much more deeply than I ever could for His lost sheep.  It makes me want to pray so much harder for those lost sheep who mean everything to Him.  It makes me want to look at people differently when I know how deeply the Father cares for them.

Last night was the hardest night of my life so far (and I’ve had really hard ones!).  I pray that God will use what I’ve learned for His glory.

Toothpaste or Strawberries?

Okay, so this morning I was sitting on the couch drinking my tea and watching Rachel Ray (for the first time in forever!) while keeping an eye on the kids. Well, Maya walks up to me with a tube of toothpaste in her hands smiling ear to ear. Not wanting her to get it all over herself (or my floor), I took it away and set it on the table next to me just out of her reach. She completely lost it! She is just learning to throw fits, and this one was a doozy. She threw herself onto the floor and cried and cried. Everytime I tried to give her something to distract her, she’d push it away and cry harder. I couldn’t help but laugh. (I know, I’m a wonderful mother 🙂
I just kept thinking…toothpaste? really? That’s what you want? I even tried offering her some strawberries (her favorite) and she wouldn’t have it. It was toothpaste or bust!

I started thinking about all the times I’ve done that to God. How many times have I cried over the “toothpaste” that I couldn’t live without when God had juicy, red, wonderful strawberries He wanted to give me if I’d just stop crying over the lost toothpaste!

I wonder if God laughs at me the way I did Maya. Probably so.

What about you? Are you crying over toothpaste, or waiting for the strawberries?

Funny Kid Stories

Okay, so I’ve always thought my kids were entertaining. But sometimes they are downright hilarious! Here are a few recent examples..

Wisdom from an 8 year old (all of this happened during the car ride home from school):

First…
E: “I think it must take a long time for food to go from our mouth all the way back out.”
Mom: “Actually, baby it has to go through a lot of organs before it’s ready to come back out – like your stomach and your intestines.”
E: “Hey – dogs have intestines too! I learned that from Martha Speaks.” Then, in her best know-it-all voice…”See mom, Martha Speaks is educational. That’s why I should always get to watch it. And Cyberchase too cause it teaches fractions.”

Then…
E: “I wonder if anyone knows how to stop the water from coming out when they need to go to the restroom. I think the scientists should really figure that one out.”

And my very favorite…
As we were driving into our neighborhood there was a kid with his parents all out in the middle (the actual middle) of the street! They didn’t even look up or move when we (in my huge van) finally had to just drive around them! Then my 8-yr old said..
E: “I wonder if they are hobos. (pause) One of my friends in Sunday School said that hobos are d-u-m-b (she spells it cause she thinks it’s a major bad word) cause they go into the street and just lay down until cars run over them. But I think they just sit next to the street and ask for food and money and clothes and stuff cause they are actually homeless.”

Wisdom from a 2-year-old:

First…
The other day Syd was lifting up and down her shirt because she thought it was funny. Then suddenly she stopped and said…
S: “Mommy, mommy look! (then she pointed at her chest) – I have bra!”

And last night…
After tooting on me and laughing she suddenly had a very concerned look on her face and said…
S: “Mommy? Yesterday I toot on Christian’s mommy.”
Mom: “What, baby?”
S: Yesterday I toot on Aunt Chelle.”

Don’t really have any wisdom from the 1-year-old yet, but give her 6 months or so and I’m sure she’ll be just as genius as the other two.

Man, I love my kids!

Hello, is this Poison Control??

So I know I already posted about our close call from last night with the dog’s overdose, but needed to update you with our second ‘overdose’ of the last 24 hours. Seriously.

I was cleaning the kitchen and looked over to find Syd (my 2 yr old) on the couch holding my newly bought bottle of pepcid complete. I forgot to put it back up on the counter this morning after taking one – OH NO!

I ran over to the couch to find a very happy, sneaky looking kid, an empty bottle, a pile of chalky pink tablets all over the couch and one in her sneaky little mouth. Asked her to spit it out – too late – already swallowed. I began counting the tablets. There were 25 in the bottle to begin with minus the 2 I had over the last 24 hours minus the 19 I found piled up on the couch and that leaves 4 TABLETS!! I asked her how many she ate and she said 5 – but she’s two and can’t count – so I figured my math was more correct.

I immediately called Poison Control and they said that she will probably be constipated, and might throw up, but it won’t kill her. So, I hung up the phone ready to kill her myself (just kidding for all you who have your hand on the phone about to call child protective services) – and had a very serious talk with her about why you shouldn’t eat medicine that mommy doesn’t give you. She laughed – I cried – good talk.

So it is now only 11:45 and already I’ve had to clean up the aluminum foil that Syd spread across the den (it is now in a very lovely aluminum foil ball b/c I couldn’t get it rolled back up), clean up the mess from my dog throwing up a sock (yes – he also eats socks!), and call poison control to make sure my daughter was not going to die from an antacid overdose. I’m laughing out loud even typing it all!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am in the running for mom of the year – and I’m sure after this post I have your vote.

My 2 year old music critic and my huge chocolate eating dog

It was one of those nights last night. It was bath night – so that was an adventure in and of itself. It was also the night before Elisa’s valentine party at school. I hadn’t been feeling well all day – so I asked Ricky to go to the store and get the valentines along with some pepcid and gatorade (cause of course I forgot to get valentines until the night before – ugh).

We put the youngest 2 down to bed and then Elisa began working frantically on her valentines (which we had again forgotten about). She finished them in less than an hour and headed off to bed. About 30 minutes later Ricky and I heard some rustling in the living room, which is where Elisa had been working on her valentines, and both of us instinctively called out “Elisa – BED!” forgetting we’d already sent her to bed. Then along came Tux (my giant puppy-boxer) trotting along at a pretty quick pace. I told Ricky that he only came running like that when he’d been into something he shouldn’t have been. Then we both looked at each other and realized that the valentines were in the other room (complete with a piece of chocolate on each one!)

The valentines were EVERYWHERE!! All but one of the chocolates were gone – he ate 20 pieces of chocolate!!! We started freaking out – not only because he had eaten alot of chocolate, but because in his frenzy to get to the chocolate he pretty much destroyed the valentines our little angel had spent so much time and effort on!

I read the bag and it turns out that he only ate about 9 oz of chocolate after all – not nearly enough to be fatal. Thank God! He didn’t even get sick – he must have a stomach of steel!

I spent the next hour trying to recover Elisa’s valentines. Luckily I found a bag of chocolate that my mom had bought about a week ago – so I was able to put them back together (and replace a few of them that the dog ate along with the chocolate). Hopefully Elisa won’t be sad that it looks all different. Oh, and by the way – during this fiasco we needed to find out how much he weighed so we’d know how much chocolate was too much chocolate – turns out he weighs in right at 75 POUNDS!!! I knew he was big – but oh man!!

On another note…

This morning while we were driving Elisa to school I turned on the radio.
Syd immediately calls out – “No, mom – not THAT song!”
(Note: it was a very slow, sweet, lovey-dovey song).
So I changed it to PowerFM and I think it was Skillet playing and she said – “Yeah, that one!”
I laughed so hard!! Just to test it out again – on the way home I changed it back to KLTY (disclaimer: I honestly love KLTY – and listen to it regularly) which was playing again a very slow sweet song. She yells out – “I don’t like that song!” I switched it back to Power FM and she yells out – “Yeah – yeah! That one!”

So I guess my 2 year old has inherited my taste in music – woohoo!

What do you know about Jesus?

That’s the question I asked my 2 year old Wednesday night as we were heading home from church. I LOVED her answer. She said…

“Jesus loves God
and God loves Jesus.”

that’s it. I was so excited that she understands (even at 2!!) that God and Jesus are connected. Of course, she then continued on with … “Twinkle, Twinkle loves God and Row, Row Boat loves Jesus…and Mary little lamb loves God and ABEC loves Jesus” My husband looks at me and says, “Now I’m pretty sure there’s some deep spiritual application there if we could just decipher it.” Hilarious stuff.

My favorite part of the car ride home, though, was when my 8 year old asked my 2 year old if she could tell her about Jesus. Syd (the 2 yr old) yells “YES! but Weesa (that’s what she calls her) where’s your bible?”

Ricky and I looked at each other with such tremendous pride in our hearts as we realized how much our little baby already knows about Jesus. She knows that Jesus loves God, God loves Jesus, and that the Bible is the story of Jesus. WOW! We were so proud that our 8 year old was so willing, ready and excited to witness to her little sister. WOW!

If only we were all so willing, ready and excited to share the incredible story of Jesus with those that we love. I love it when God uses my kids to teach me a lesson.