Hello...They Suck Their Toes

A few of my friends and family have called me recently and said "wow, you seem a little stressed from what I am reading in your blogs...." And I am so confused by this?  I don't understand where they are coming from?  Isn't everyone with children stressed?  Isn't everyone exhausted and pulled in so many directions they don't know what way is up?  Doesn't every one's kids scream like Sponge Bob on crack?

I'm not stressed or annoyed or exhausted or done, I am a mom.  I am not complaining or mad or upset, I am a mom.  I have eight hour days with people who need their butts wiped.  I have conversations with people that suck their toes and think it's funny.  I color, I make Mac 'N Cheese and PB&J and Oatmeal every single morning of my life....I'm a mom.

Normal?? No...Yes...

Perhaps I need to start writing about what is working, but is that bragging?  Who wants one more venue to listen to a mom that "has it all," and has "perfect children"....not me!  If you saw me in real life, you would see that I am the most patient, calm, lazy faire person in the world...unless Brock is screaming.

It isn't about needing a break or being ready to crack, it is about getting through those moments.  It is about swimming along through the stress without killing anyone and coming out the other side with everyone intact and happy...Ok, how bout just intact...  

Life isn't about merely the moment, if it were who would ever make it?  Life is about realizing that we are constantly moving towards better.  We are always learning what we do want, because we, at the moment, are discerning what we don't want.  That is creation.  That is growth.  That is knowing "this to shall pass." Please for the love of all that is holy let it pass.....

Pregnant with Brock

When Cody and Skylar were little, I had a friend who would tell me, "as soon as you think you can't take something they are doing for one more minute, they change."  She was so right and I remember that often.  Teething doesn't last forever, Brock screaming won't last forever, Emersyn not going to bed, won't last forever....and thus we survive.  Can you imagine thinking an ear infection would last FOREVER??!! Can you imagine if pregnancy lasted forever?!


Even though certain illnesses or learning difficulties DO last "forever," they do change.  The child makes progress or grows or utters a sound or makes eye contact.  Or WE change, WE grow, WE realize or WE concede, and the difficulty changes us and we are in a different place to deal with the lack of change.  We create a different US to contend with the lack of change in the child.

So no, I am not losing it, I am not going off the deep end, I am a mom.  I am dealing with little people who have more energy than the Illuminating Company.  I am dealing with selling a house, new projects, a first birthday party, my own work, a blog, the gym and four children, OH, and what to make for dinner tonight.  It is just life, and I am not one to pretend I got it all under control because that's crap.

All four kids for my 26th birthday...

I am not one to stay up till 2:00 a.m. just to be the #1 mom.  I am not going to get up at 5:00 a.m. just so that my makeup is perfect and my blog is written....I'm just not THAT person.  I write my blog with Brock trying to press the ESC button.  I do the laundry with Brock yelling at me from the family room gate.  I go to the gym with my kids and I go to the grocery store with Brock and Emersyn and Skylar and Jim.  It's not perfect or pretty, but it's how I do it.

Stress is momentary, happiness is a state of mind and being a mom is forever.  You can have it all and I do...every stressful, happy moment!