A Day in the Life

I always knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom someday. I wanted to be a mom more than anything – ever. I wanted to have a minivan full of kids, be a Room Mom, bake the world’s best chocolate chip cookies and have them waiting for the kids when they got home from school. I wanted a loud home with lots of little feet running circles around me while I cook dinner with a baby on my hip. Packing lunches and signing field trip forms to stick in their backpacks – bring it. A hectic Mom Life. That’s what I felt destined to have, and it’s what I’ve been blessed with. Yet that hectic, crazy life sometimes keeps me so busy that I’m usually complaining about it instead of thanking God for this beautiful chaos that surrounds me…but today was different.

I was woken up this morning to my 3 year old singing his heart out from the crib. I went in and was greeted with the biggest, happiest “MOMMY!” and arms spread open wide. Good stuff. Makes the exhaustion so worth it.

I stumbled downstairs, popped his waffles in the toaster and poured myself a cup of coffee immediately. The older two woke up soon after, made breakfast for them, and the two neighbors I watch in the mornings and see off to school arrived.

It’s 7:45 and I’ve got to get myself showered, dressed, makeup on, hair dried, blah blah blah. I’ve got to get my three dressed and ready for school also. And pack a lunch and sign Reading Challenge papers for the oldest. Oh, and can’t forget to grab the danishes out of the freezer for tomorrow’s Grandparents Breakfast. It’s Brown Day at the preschool, so I’ve got to remember the youngest two need to wear that color. I’ve got one hour exactly, because right from dropping off the youngest ones at preschool, I’m heading to the first grader’s school to volunteer.

It’s always crazy, but I get all five to where they need to be. I volunteered for a couple hours, left, grabbed the preschoolers from their school at 12, came home, we had lunch. It was cold and dreary today, so we made tomato soup and grilled cheeses. We curled up together on the couch to watch a quick show before they headed upstairs for quiet time. I did some craftin’ for the blog, and shortly after, my niece walked in from middle school (she’s here a couple afternoons a week). It was then time to hit the bus stop to get my first grader. The kids played outside while I got dinner ready, as they do every day until the dead of winter arrives.

I got the phone call from my husband at 5:50 that something came up at work and he wouldn’t be home until 6:30 (a half hour later than norm). Kids were starving. Starving kids do NOT equal fun. So I served up their leftover spaghetti and we decided to just have a laid back dinner at the kitchen island instead of the dining room, where we eat every night.

I was tired, a little cranky, and already looking forward to bedtime. It’s not bath night, thank God. I don’t have it in me.

And all of a sudden it hit me.

I looked around at the island messy with school papers. Papers I needed to sign and put in backpacks. I didn’t mind them. In fact, I actually smiled.

I listened while our little entertainer cracked up her brother and sister. The laughter was contagious. I’m talking we were belly laughing. It was amazing. I realized my house is always loud.

I looked outside and there’s my minivan in our driveway with three car seats (and a lot of crushed goldfish crackers). Yep. Sounds about right.

Plastic Princess plates and Spiderman cups fill the sink. I always knew they would. And tonight, it was a welcome sight.

Because if only for tonight, I was able to step back and slow down long enough to realize I’m living that crazy beautiful life I always imagined I would. It may be exhausting, it may be loud, there may NEVER EVER be a dull moment…

…but it’s just the way I like it.