Listen, I know the appropriate answer in ALL of our mommy lives is THAT OUR CHILDREN ARE OUR GREATEST BLESSINGS!
Therefore, Pinterest and Facebook and Instagram and LIFE itself was created (of course, exaggerating on ALL of the above) for T.H.E.M.
But when you are a mommy—you FEEL as if you MUST only be mommy.
100%.
All the time.
Because, by golly, you created THAT life—you can just as easily TAKE IT AWAY (oops—wrong tangent).
No, really…You feel this gut need to be there 24/7 plus all of those hours in between that in mommy hood REALLY DO EXIST!
I know. Because I have been a mommy for 10 and a half years. And in the years that I have been a mommy, I have had, literally just today, A TOTAL OF 2 weeks WHERE I HAVEN’T HAD A CHILD IN MY PRESENCE since my firstborn was, well, BORN. (And those words do deserve ALL CAPS)
That’s 365 x 10 plus 6 months which equals approximately 3,830 days where life has NEVER EVER EVER EVER been about a single moment of me since. Now, take away the 14 days where I have been a mommy BUT not in the presence of a single child that was mine equals 3,816 days. Forget the fact that I am Facetiming them about 2 times a day—they are not hanging on to my shirttails, so it is still deemed “free”.
Ladies—There is something utterly overwhelming about that number. And, if you’re sanctimonious, spare me the comments, because that’s a crap load of LOTS of time dedicated to little people. Enough of a load to make you go just a WEE BIT insane.
And, even though, I am suppose to be in ARIZONA with 1/3 of my little people right now, I wound up here (due to an expired passport) ALL ALONE.
At first I was like, what do I do???
At first it was like—lie in bed. Don’t feed anyone. Take a long shower. Get coffee. Sleep.
A little boring—because, after all, children do make our lives FUN!
But the more days I have been relaxing here, the more I have realized that I have needed this.
This moment.
To NOT be constantly thinking about scissors and rocks and crying babies and wiping my son’s bottom to save my laundry load from streaks later…
This moment.
To not be picking stuck boogers out of the littlest nostrils and convincing the oldest that it is her SWORN duty to play with the littles for ONE HOUR of the 24 WAKING HOURS she has in her day so that I can sit and stare mindlessly into a dirty house.
This moment.
To not be cutting crust off of bread—whichever parent invented that method of sandwich preparation—remind me to KILL YOU LATER, because, for some reason, my children KNOW it and CAN’T eat sandwiches with crust.
This moment.
To realize that my house is probably the aftermath of the storm—but I am ALONE in my bed without physically seeing the dirt and grime and toys and laundry—so I am SAFE FROM THE STORM!
And the longer I am apart from my Tasmanian devils, the more I appreciate being their mommy. It’s like that Christmas chocolate you get that you put up high to only have a piece every once in a while because you want to make it last…NOT SAYING THAT I’LL STUFF MY KIDS UP HIGH SOMEWHERE SO THEY’LL LIVE (or am I????).
Simply saying—this moment of being without kids is allowing my haggard body, soul, and mind to reboot.
So I can go back and live 24/7 for another 3,816 days—upon which they will all be out of the home and I will be SOBBING for the days of insanity.
#truth
#nuttynuttytruth
To end…my advice for you, mommies, out there. Maybe take a break from day 3,173 and go somewhere without kids and just lie in bed, be bored, drink coffee, shower, and reboot.
It’s totally worth it.
And, don’t worry, the house will be a disaster upon your return—as if you NEVER really left in the first place. BUT OH YOUR SOUL WILL KNOW THE TRUTH!
And that truth will let you live on!
Power on, Mommy—and travel alone!!!!
And 2 Makes Crazy 