So what do we do? Well, I definitely believe it is important (for your mental and emotional health) to take a little bit of time away from our kids and go on a date with your husband, do something fun with a girlfriend or just curl up with a good book and give your mind a break. I also realized that sometimes in the trenches of motherhood we fail to see beyond todays set of circumstance. What I mean is, while I do wish sometimes that I just had 4-5 hours to sit and work on a project - I just don't have that kind of time right now with 3, soon to be 4, small kids at home with me all day. But, the day is coming (faster than I think) that all 4 of my kids will be in school all day...I'm almost half way there right now. And while I know that I will be helping out in their classes a lot and going on field trips, there will also be days where I have from morning till afternoon all to myself. To do whatever I wish. To sit and sew or scrapbook or fold all the mountains of clean laundry that are always sitting in my basement. That may be a very, very exciting thought to some Moms, and in certain aspects it is to me too, but mostly it's a gut check. It reminds me that my time with my kids is fleeting, it is flying by faster than I can even keep up. Before I know it my kids will be spending the majority of their day away from me. We always talk about how we have our kids with us full time until their 18 years old. But really, I think it's a much shorter amount of time. We really have about 6 years. Six years when we can spend all day (or at least the majority of the day) with them...teaching them, influencing them, laughing with them, crafting with them....and then, off they go. They go to school full time and then when they get home we have to concentrate on homework, dinner, extra curricular activities and bedtime. Realizing that just made me think - how am I spending my time with them right now? When I'm 50 years old and I look back on this period of time in my life, will I be proud of what I did or will I wish I could go back in time, slap myself in the face and tell myself to get with it!?!?! I hope I'll be proud of how I spent my time with them. I know I can't be perfect, but I can try my best to be a faithful steward of the time God gives me. I can choose to sit down and spend quality time with my kids and simply just enjoy them. Because they are my priority, they are my focus. They are the best gift I have ever received. If I have to wait until 8pm to get some time to myself, that's fine. I'm blessed to be able to spend my day watching Baby Einstein, building Legos and styling the baby doll's hair. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
We all have 24 hours in the day. How we spend them is up to us. And the time is coming....the time when I will have a chance to catch up on all of the laundry and thoroughly clean the house. The time when I really can throw on some Gilmore Girls and scrap or sew for hours at a time...more than just once a month. The time that I can dig into my Bible study homework the way I really want to. The time that I can go and wander around Target and Hobby Lobby without having to stop and look in all the toy aisles. But I have a feeling that when those days do come, I might spend one or two of them crying into my laundry and having an emotional breakdown at my sewing machine...because my babies are growing up way too fast. :)
We only get one shot at it. Once they're grown, they're grown. Give up on doing it perfectly but do it with a lot of heart and a lot of laughter and a WHOLE LOT OF JESUS. And rock them all you can. - Beth Moore, on raising kids
Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 39:4-7
LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
We are merely moving shadows,
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
A poem that always gives me a better perspective on life as a wife & mom...
Babies Don’t Keep
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.