So yesterday was one of those days where I felt like a hamster running on a wheel. Run run run, all day long, and in the end, I managed to go absolutely no where! Still, I think I was able to learn a great lesson from it all.It started out at 3 a.m. when Teya woke me up for the third time to let me know she was hungry. bleary eyed I walked like a zombie down to the kitchen and made her some toast, all the while saying, "This is why I told you to eat your dinner, next time you don't eat your dinner and you wake up hungry I'll just say, 'too bad, should've eaten when you had the chance!" As I'm saying it we're both thinking, "yeah right! Mom will always get up in the middle of the night to feed Teya because she's a big fat push over!"
The rest of the day was downhill from there. I woke up sleep deprived and sluggish. Still I had high hopes of making it to playgroup by 10am. We hadn't been out of the house all week and I thought for sure this would be the day for fresh air. I got dressed, fed Teya, dressed Teya (which is always a HUGE ordeal for miss picky) then went to dress the baby. A few minutes later I heard Teya crying and saw that my hard work of dressing her was ruined by a cup of juice. I pulled off her shirt and was about to find a new one that might please her majesty when the baby started crying. I rushed off to feed the baby leaving Teya half dressed. Then things were quiet, too quiet.
Me (calling from the bedroom where I'm nursing the baby): "What are you doing Teya?"
Teya: "Nothing! Don't look me mom, Go away!"
Me (nervous now because "nothing" always means something bad) "Come here right now, what are you doing?"
Teya: "I say nothing Mom! Don't look me! (giggles)
I finish feeding the baby and walk into the bathroom to see this:
Teya: "LOOK MOMMY! I'M SO PRETTY! I WEAR MAKE-UP!"I look at Teya, her tummy, her legs, her feet, the counter, the floor and most obviously her face are covered in my eye shadow (which as you can guess is long gone by now). I look at the time: "tick tock tick tock, playgroup starts in 20 minutes!" Yikes! it takes 20 minutes just to bundle up my kids and load them into the car up here in frozen Minnesota, guess we'll be late but we might still make it.
I tried wiping her face with a wipe, no good. I tried makeup remover and it was coming off but then Teya got her hands in the water and started sloshing it all over. Now brown water was spilling over the counter onto her feet. This isn't working I think, guess it's bath time again. She walks over to the tub leaving brown footprints. Guess I'll have to clean my bathroom again. The Hamster wheel keeps spinning. run run run, clean clean clean, bathe bathe bathe, feed feed feed, then start all over again! AHHHHH!
Finally the bath is done and it's back to the battle of getting her dressed. "This too tight! These pants are hurting me! I don't want this shirt! WAAAAAA!!!!" At last she's dressed. I look at the time, "tick tock tick tock, playgroup is officially over, but there might be a few moms still hanging out."
I turn to Teya, "Okay, I'm just going to change Brinley's diaper and then we're going bye bye"
Teya: "I don't want to go bye bye, I just want to stay in Minnesota!"
Me: "We are in Minnesota, we're going to the community center, don't you want to go to the community center?"
Teya: "Yeah! The community center! Let's go Mom!"
Me: "Okay just a minute, I gotta change Brinley"
I go to pick up Brinley and of course, her diaper is leaking wonderful yellow nastiness all over her outfit. How hard can it be to feed and dress two kids and get them out of the house!? The Supernanny could do this in 20 minutes! Why is it taking me 2 hours!!! Brinley is going to need a bath too. Hop back on the hamster wheel. Run run run!
Finally we're all ready, playgroup is long over, but for the sake of my own sanity I want to leave the house.
Me:"Okay Teya, are you ready to go?"
Teya: "I'm hungry mom."
Of course you're hungry. Of course we're not going to leave the house. Who was I kidding anyway? I feed the girls. Looks like Brinley will need another bath. My To-do list is sitting on the table laughing at me. Haven't crossed off one thing yet. Should've written down, "dress kids, feed kids, bathe kids" a couple of times. Then my list would be looking pretty good.
At last the kids are fed, bathed, dressed and down for a nap. Only problem is, Brinley doesn't want to nap. I try unsuccessfully for an hour to get her down. Finally I give up and decide that nap time will not be the sanctuary I was hoping for. Teya wakes up throwing a disoriented fit. The bags under my eyes are getting heavier. As Teya screams in the background I call Taber and leave a voicemail."Hey babe, it's me. (Teya screaming in the background) I was thinking maybe we could switch jobs for awhile. (More screaming) I know I don't have an MBA or anything, but I'm sure General Mills could use me somewhere. (Teya's screaming escalates) I could be a secretary (more screaming) or an aide for someone (Screaming becomes hysterical) I'll even be a janitor just please! Think about it, you'd be a great stay at home Dad! I think we're on to something here! okay, gotta go, bye!"
Teya is still screaming but now I'm laughing. Confused by my laughter she stops screaming.
"Are you hungry?" I ask her.
"Yes" she whimpers back
Content, I jump back on my wheel and keep running. This is my life, those darling little girls that require so much feeding, cleaning and caring for are mine, and I wouldn't give that up for anything.
Today my friend shared some motivational advice that fit perfectly with my experience. She said that her husband told her a story of two kayakers who went 8 miles against the wind, beating their opponenents with one simple strategy: "Keep paddling". No blasting ahead and dead stops. She said, "I've told the story like 8 times in the last 24 hours, and I can't stop thinking about it... doing laundry that will be a mess again in two days (keep paddling), working on my business (keep paddling), trying to talk my daughter through the abyss of her emotional, tortured, soul-felt tantrum (keep paddling)... consistent effort to get to the end. I like it."
I also read a talk today by Elder Lawrence E. Crobridge of the Seventy. He said,
"Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don't quit, and you will make it."
Today we got out of the house, both kids are napping at the same time, my laundry is whirling away in the washer and I'm blogging in a semi-clean, quiet house. Life is hard but life is simple. Just keep paddling and you will make it!
22 comments:
That's awesome Becca! You're an excellent writer. I'm sorry you had such a hard day. But I don't think we're actually supposed to get anything done during the day. But if we do, we should be pleasantly surprised. I personally think I'm doing something wrong. My life seems too easy and boring. I better watch out though...maybe this next baby won't be as good as Mason and Maile. Who knows. They aren't perfect Of course...especially since they're both in a hitting and punching phase. But overall, they keep things pretty easy. I feel a change is soon in the air though. You're an awesome example. Love ya!
Rae
I'm sure most of us have been here. YES here...can you write a similar blog entry for my blog?! AHHHHH! Needless to say, I needed to read this today to know that I'm not alone. Thanks for the encouragement.
I think the majority of anyone with children can feel for you right now, heck I think ANYONE can feel for you! I have been thinking a lot about perspective lately and trying to put a positive spin on the humdrum of my everyday life...thanks for putting things into "perspective" for me! And as Scarlett O'Hara always says, "Tomorrow is another day."
Love this, it rings true for all stay at home mom/dads out there! In fact just while I was reading this post I had to take breaks to... feed Harp... bribe Harp to eat... wash ranch off of everything... change a pooper (boy I wish he was potty trained)... and put him in the bath. Maybe one day I will be able to get through a whole post with out any interruptions.... ah one can dream. Scary thing is, I only have ONE monster.... I don't know what I would do if I was double-teamed :) Thanks for your insight.
You're my soul sista Becca ;). Did Taber tell you the kayakers are him and Nathan? I forgot to mention that, but it's better when you get to think of our burly Alaskans... so consistent and strong. They would make GREAT stay-at-home dads! I should give Nathan a call too... love that part about your message.
Sorry you had a rough day! Teya and Aspen sound like soul sistas too ;)
Oh my, I was laughing so hard at the part when Teya was saying "Nothing! Dont look me!" hahaha I can so relate. I can totally relate to that whole story, it was like I knew Brinley would blow out her diaper and the kids would be hungry when you're finally ready. Your story is the story of our lives, and you're right, some days are better than others. I always tell myself, "You can't have everything everyday." Some days my house is spotless but my kids are bored, some days my kids are the focus and everything else goes patoot, and I think it's natural. I like that paddling analogy, too. Totally our lives. (p.s. the guys definitely have it easier) :)
"Why is Minnesota so far from Utah?" Did that thought cross your mind before your call to Taber!
Woulda been a great time for that extra set of grandma hands!
Hurray for moms like you who don't let "this week's armageddon" turn into anger and resentment...just a lot of extra love!
Hurray for Taber who I'm sure will come home tonight, give you a great big hug and tell you that you are the best mommy and best wife in the world, in loving husband fashion!
Can you imagine some of the days mom musta had back in the day when all yall were growing up? Amazing!
Love you sis
Ah. What a refreshing blog....I am glad that I am not the only one that feels completely overwhelmed sometimes, and I only have half of the little angels yous do! I think it is the weather...kind of gives you cabin fever, huh? Thanks for the insight! :)
awesome blog Becca. would write more, but I have to go color.
Thanks for my morning smile. That was awesome and so true for many of us moms! I like when Elder Ballard quoted Anna Quindlen, "I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." This whole quote is hanging in my kitchen. Have a great day!
Thank you for sharing! Sometimes moms have to lest the rest of us know we are human, just by sharing a crappy day!
You have no idea how much reading your post was like reliving many days in my life as a mom! LOL I can totally relate, and some days it does feel like being on a hampster wheel, and everything you "accomplish" has no lasting effect. Thank goodness for the days that things go smoothly!
Becca - that is pretty funny. Like everyone else says that is a pretty typical day for a mom.
Great post!!! I was cracking up! Thank you for reminding me that kids can wait a couple years :) Although, that might be a bad idea considering my bones probably won't be up to the immense challenge.
wow!!! What a huge long eventful day!! You're my hero!!!! I'm going to use your phrase from now on!
This will cheer you up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ujADXp0dM
and this one too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I8FCgaoaG8
You poor thing. I hate those kind of days! At least you were laughing. Better to laugh than cry...sometimes it's hard to laugh though. Hang in there. There will be a day soon that goes perfect to balance it all out. I think Heavenly Father throws us a bone when we are ready to switch jobs!
Bec, one of these days you are going to write a best-seller. I just know it. Just look how many people you have inspired. Thanks for answering your phone and making time to cheer me up on my puddle day when you were having an even crazier one. Love ya!
Well-written, Becca! I don't know how you managed to make a report of a day like that be so entertaining - the whole time I was reading it I was both laughing and thinking, "oh, my goodness - I have had this exact day before."
I get so overwhelmed sometimes, and I remember this last General Conference, President Monson was saying something like, for those moms out there who have piles of laundry out there (I thought, "okay, that's me"), just remember to enjoy the little moments, because this stage of your life is going to pass. (or something like that). And it seems silly, because I've heard things like that so many times that I usually just ignore them, but for some reason this time it really hit me that the stage where I am constantly cleaning up after my kids and feeding them and telling them not to tease each other is going to pass, and that helped me realized that maybe I don't need to go crazy, because this isn't going to be the rest of my life.
Anyway, sorry that was so long - it just reminded me of that. And I've been out of the blogging-world, but I've loved catching up on all your posts. You're the best!
My dear sweet Becca! Oh how I feel your pain and man is it so true :) Your sister Liz actually showed me this pic on her cell phone when I met her at the jewerly store I work at...And I hoped there would be a past about it :) Hang in there, one day our kids will tell us "Mom, You are the best Mom I could ever ask for!!"
I was seriously just going to write you an email to get advice on this whole mommy thing...and then I read your blog and it helped me realize that other moms have those days too! Thank you for sharing and for the quotes...I needed them today!
Well said Becca! I've had those days also, as most of us moms have. Thanks for the humor you added to a frustrating moment. Thanks for the inspiring words. Well written too! (of course, written on a different day when the emotions are in check, right?) lol
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