Lately I have been feeling the "totally overwhelmed mom" feelings. I feel completely maxed out with all my responsibilities. The fact that my biggest responsibilities are also my greatest blessings adds a bit of guilt into the mix. It seems that from the minute I wake up to the minute I crash at night there is almost always someone needing to be fed, changed, comforted, bathed, dressed, disciplined, practiced with, loved, listened to, read to, tucked in, etc.. There is an endless amount of laundry and dishes to be done and for some reason Cheerios for dinner just doesn't seem to cut it. Some days it feels like there is non-stop fighting, teasing, bickering, whining, crying, complaining, and total dis-respect. I realize that in the grand scheme of things these are happy problems to have and I am SO SO SO much happier being in this stage and not back in the bed-rest phase...but last week I was beginning to feel totally rundown.
5...or maybe 10 chocolate chip cookies helped a little,
a supportive friend and listener helped even more,
a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a frozen pizza for dinner from Chad helped a ton,
but surprisingly the thing that helped the most was when I happened to go through some pictures on my computer that I hadn't really looked at since I took them. The saying
"the days are long but the years are short"
kept running through my head. I realized that a midst all the chaos and craziness...I need to try to remember the little things that make raising children so special. As I looked at the pictures...mostly from the summer, I decided that I want to do a better job of remembering those
little things when I feel like my task is too
big.
And really, I do not want to forget...
that thanks to her Great Grandma Marian, at age 5, my little Marian can make banana walnut bread by herself from scratch....seriously she does it all...chop, mix, bake and serve!
I want to remember that Jack and Marian don't
always fight and terrorize each other
(and yes that is a rock in Jack's stroller)
Grant and Grace used to hold hands in the porta-crib together
Jack was a total nerd....for nerd day at school
My kids actually do enjoy being together! (at least sometimes)
I want to remember that when Jack started scouts I thought he looked so handsome and grown up (and I was unreasonably proud of the fact that I sewed the patches onto his shirt all by myself!)
I don't want to forget that during lunch, Marian and Lucy dance around the kitchen singing and acting out the same "Standin' Tall" songs I used to sing and act out with my sisters. Anyone remember "Welcome to the Land of Obey?
We only have one baby jumper...and Grace's feet can't reach the ground when it's at Grant's setting.
How cute are those toes?
It's too much of a hassle to change the settings back and forth so we improvise...
She loves it
I don't want to forget that Lucy LOVES to play with the babies on the floor in the family room and they usually love it too.
As he as done with all our babies...Chad is obsessed with kissing their cheeks and telling me every five minutes that they are the most beautiful babies in the world.
When he's home....Chad almost always has at least one baby on or around him
I've heard that someday we won't have to buy diapers any more and so I guess someday I might forget that once a month the UPS guy would deliver a box the size of Jack filled with diapers and wet wipes....I guess I could forget that...but I doubt it.
