Hang in There, Mama (or, The Joy of Parenting pt. 2)

Today, as I was putting away laundry, I came across the dresser of one of my sons.  It reminded me that I had written a little article about how frustrated we can get as Mamas trying so hard to get ahead (or find our heads) in our day to day tasks while we train our children.  So I snapped a picture of my son’s dresser after he put away his clean laundry and pulled up the article for you to read.  Hope it encourages you, or if nothing else, maybe you’ll start praying more for me!   

Hang in there, Mama.

Well, I’m wondering if your days look anything like mine.  Today, I worked through about five loads of laundry, then had the boys come in and put away their clothes.  Now, when I called them in to get their shirts to put in their shirt drawer, I promise that the shirts are neatly folded on my bed in nice piles.  I really do not hand them a big wad of shirts and say, “Please go stuff these in your drawer as quickly as possible.  If you can’t get them all to fit, just leave the drawer hanging open with the wad of shirts sticking out.”  So how is it then, that when I go into their rooms with the shirt that fell out of their pile on the way to their dresser that I find a wad sticking out, when I know that I just folded those very shirts mere seconds ago?  It happens every time. 

In between loads of laundry, I promise that I have also fed the children.  So why is it that right after lunch (when I am folding another load of clothes) that my five year old comes in to say, “Mama, I’m hungry.”  Of course the seven year old hears him, perks up, and says, “Hmm, me too.” 

Do you ever feel like you can’t win?  Like you can never get ahead?  Like no matter how hard you work and how much you do, it’s never enough to stay on top of everything? 

I try.  I really do.  So why is it that I have more dirty plates beside the sink after I wash the dishes than when I started?  Doesn’t even sound like it’s scientifically possible (or would that be mathematically?).

And let’s not even begin to talk about the bathroom.  You remember don’t you, that I have four boys?  I might as well just go back to the kitchen to work on those dishes and pretend I don’t have a bathroom to clean.  Doesn’t seem to matter anyway- if you know what I mean.  And don’t tell me about the “put cheerios in the toilet to give ‘em something to aim at.  Wouldn’t work, and I don’t need soggy cheerios stuck to the bottom of the toilet seat. 

Well, maybe your day doesn’t look much like mine.  Or maybe you’re just so tired from trying to keep up that you don’t even remember what your day looked like today.  (Huh?  I’m sorry, were you talking to me?) 

All I know is that even though I can’t seem to get everything done that I would like to – and the spiders really like my house because they can build a web and settle in for a while before my broom has time to find it’s way to the corner to knock it out – I’m happy.  God is good and I’m really happy.  I have four beautiful children and a wonderful husband to take care of. 

So, hang in there, Mama.  We’ll keep working on training the kids to take the extra 30 seconds to put their laundry away neatly.  We’ll find a snack for the 14th time today if they’re hungry.  Someday, we’ll even get an uninterrupted night of sleep. (What might that be like?)

In the meantime, we’ll just remember that mamas all over the world are standing at the sink wondering if there really is an end to the dirty dishes.  We’ll remember that wads of clean clothes are stuffed in drawers all over the world as mamas sigh and mumble to themselves that they might as well not even go to the trouble of folding them at all.  And we’ll remember that God is good to have given us the privilege of being a mama.  And then we’ll smile and grab the toilet brush and go clean, again.