I continue to chop in a hurried frenzy before chaos escalates and then I notice that our baby has pulled my shorts round my ankles.
I continued to chop the vegetables anyway!
Maybe 5 minutes later in the midst of the "Mama can you help me", "Mummy can I have a drink", "Mamamamamaaaaa" (in other words can you stop what you are doing NOW, pick me up, cuddle me and breast feed NOW pleeaaaaaaase" that I burst out laughing as I thought about how this picture looked.
Baby on hip. Baby at my feet. Shorts at my ankles. Unwashed hair thrown up on top of my head and tears streaming down my face with the sting of the onions I was in the middle of cutting!
Why don't you see this picture of motherhood in the magazines eh?
It's not THAT chaotic all the time, but there ARE moments!
Anyone else?!
Being a Mummy can be JOYFULLY- CHAOTICALLY- EXHAUSTING!!!
When I had one baby I got shocked by the lack of sleep.
With two babies I got shocked at the lack of time!
Some days us mums don't get an actual minute to ourselves. I mean , even on the toilet right? Nothing is sacred anymore!
Some days it feel like I have a baby permanently latched on to me drinking milk day and night. I sometimes feel like a cow or limitless milk dispenser.
Some days I wonder if I have broken the record for picking up random bits of cereal that get thrown or scattered from breakfast time. Some days I feel like the champion nappy changer. There must be a competition somewhere for changing two in high speed time?!
Funny times!
Our baby son Eli will be one next month. Without a doubt it's the quickest year of my life. I have been feeling little seconds of sadness about it. I don't feel like I've missed anything (which I'm thankful for), but it's just been FAR TOO FAST.
We need to cherish and embrace the exhausting days- the chaotic days- the long days because the reality is they are really beautiful days.
The same tiny hands that want to be glued to my leg while trying to cook dinners will one day wave goodbye as he starts his first day of school. The same little arms that want to constantly hand round my neck will one day be too big to carry.
The same little voice that calls "can you help me", "lets play Mummy", "I need you Mummy" and "can I have a drink please" ' (this feels like a particularly overused phrase at the moment) will one day be too old to play, able to pour a drink for himself and not need me quite so often..
How many times have I heard parent friends say how fast time goes, how quickly they grow. Already I feel this is more than a parental cliche- it's reality.
These are precious times. Blessed times. Treasured times.
Joyful, chaotic, exhausting, blessed and special times.
For the last few days I have had a phrase and melody pumping through my heart-
"In the small things, let our hearts sing "I will be faithful"
Our lives as parents are filled with what some may see as "small things"- wiping messy faces, washing sticky hands, responding to "little" needs from the sun rises until it sets (and often through the nights!), picking up toys again and again and sweeping the crumbs of food from under the high chair again and again..... and again!
They seem like small things, but when we do them with great love they become acts in which we are being faithful. Small things , mundane things can become little offerings of worship all through the day and night!
I am writing this to remind myself that
- every task, sleepless night, moment is an opportunity to show love to my beautiful gifts from God
- every moment is an opportunity to worship
- every moment will pass and become a memory.
