This Thing Called Mothering.

Sometimes I want to pull my hair out at the things that go on in my house, my car, my day, my life.  Sometimes I cannot believe I am the mom in Walgreen's saying, 'don't touch that.' 'please stay with me.' 'no, we aren't buying that today.' 'please put that back.' 'excuse me.  no hitting.'  For the entire time I am there.  By the end of the day, I am usually tired of listening to myself.

The Lady was sick on Sunday & Monday.  The throw ups.  So there have been messes.  And tonight, dinner included straws with bubbles, burps, tag around the table, tipping over chairs & of course, hitting.  Because what would dinner be without those things?  Lunchtime included a table for 3 outside on the patio & was complete with more tag, water guns spraying mid-bite & you guessed it, hitting.

Sometimes I actually try to referee these goings on.  You know try to keep things civil & mannerly like.  Tonight?  I just sat & ate my own dinner & let what would be be.  As I sat, I tried to list the things I had accomplished today.  Sometimes I do that.  As chaos ensues, I just pretend to be somewhere else...tonight I was thinking about 'The List.'  You know that mental one you tally?  The only thing I could think that was on my 'list of things to do' & got accomplished today was 4 windows got washed.  That was it.

I kept thinking, I had to have done something more today than just get 4 windows washed.  What else?  But that was it.  Nothing else on my list got checked off. 

So what took up our whole day?  To be honest, I'm not really sure today, or most days.  But we do have blankets littering the family room from tents that have been played in all day.  We made it to school & to the school field trip at the fire station.  We also managed naps for myself & the Lady.  We made it to Target to get supplies for an upcoming birthday.  The dishes in the dishwasher are clean.  Soccer practice was attended & the park was visited.  A birthday gift was delivered & the shower also got a bit of a clean...that is, if you call spraying out some soap & giving your kids sponges while they bathe cleaning the shower.

As I continued to sit amidst the dinner table chaos, I decided maybe my list needs to change.  Maybe instead of things like washing 4 windows, it should include more tents, more straws with bubbles & tag...even around the dinner table.  Because those?  I could check those off every day.  And while they might not be the most mannerly in Walgreens, the Lady did take it upon herself to clear her own dishes without being asked tonight & then got all the place mats put away too.  And Scoobs?  He begs every night to meet me in my bed to read Superfudge & snuggle. 

 

{the glasses?  better than these, right?}

I'm adding those to my list & checking them off.  No one cares about clean windows anyway.