I lost my head!

Today ended in the only possible appropriate manner: with my head falling off.

Hang with me and I’ll explain.

Today was like any other day.  Kids wake up, kids get fed, kids get dressed, kids play, kids nap.  Repeat.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Well, there was one thing out of the ordinary: my attitude.  I had one of those days where I chose to be a martyr.  A suffering servant.  A victim.  You know, one of those days where you entertain an internal dialogue involving all the things that are “unfair” about your “lot in life”.  One riddled with burdens and complaints.

In case you’re not familiar with this routine for some strange reason, it goes something like this: the kids are always hungry; it feels like I’m preparing meals all day long.  There’s so much laundry to fold.  I’ve just got to get out of this house before I explode.  

In reality, however, my day could have been quite lovely.  We had plenty of food to feed to the kids and they ate healthy items like apples, grapefruit, carrots and edamame.  Now doesn’t that sound a lot more pleasant than “the kids are always hungry”?

I was able to unload our bins of summer clothes-blue bins for boys and purple bins for girls-organized by size.  Sounds much nicer than “there’s so much laundry to fold.”  Um, hello?  We have bins of clothes for the children.  BINS.  all given to us by friends.  Pretty sweet if you ask me.

And the list of things for which to be grateful continues: ten different neighbors stopped by throughout the day to say hello or play with the kids.  Ten.  The sun was out and we played in the yard for hours.  As I type, my husband is cleaning the kitchen so I can sit with my feet propped up.  And when he’s done cleaning, he’s running out to pick up italian ice because, let’s face it, sometimes comfort food…well…comforts!

Oh, but all of these gifts were lost on me today.  How could I appreciate them when I was so busy tallying my grievances?!

Then my head fell off.

I have one of those mother statues- the one of the peaceful mom cradling a baby.  For years this statue has served as a visual reminder to me; a reminder of my desire to be a peaceful, calm, and nurturing mother.  So of course Little Lady scampered out of her bath tonight and right up to the statue.  Of course she grabbed it, and of course it slipped from her bubbly-wet little hands.

Smash.

Statue on the ground.

Beheaded.

And that’s when it hit me-  I’ve lost my head!

I’d love to finish out this post with all the wonderful lessons I learned as a result of today’s experience.  But to be honest, I’m still working on it!  So stay tuned!  But for now, all I know is that being a stay-at-home mom can be very tiring at times, but that it’s NOT NEARLY AS DRAINING AS COMPLAINING!

I’m thankful for today’s experience and what it can teach me about myself.  I’m thankful for a God who enables us to grow out of our weaknesses and to become people- and parents- who will leave a healthy legacy to the next generation.  A legacy marked by grace and love and hope and faith.

Sheesh, all that from a beheaded statue?!