I love being a Mom

No, this post is not going to be about how wonderful my kids are, nor how wonderful of a mom I am. I am not going to talk about how my house is always clean and how my kids always obey. Indeed I have many overwhelming days. Yep, I have days where I go into the laundry room, see the huge pile of clothes and I want to run back to my bed and put my head under the covers. And yes, there are many days I call Seth at work and whine to him about how the kids won’t quit fighting, the house is a mess, and somehow I need to find time to get Jacob to baseball and Megan to piano, which just both happen to be on the same day at the same time.

It is true, most of my days are less than perfect and generally end with me falling quickly to the coach in exhaustion at the close of the day. However, every once-in-a-while I have a moment where I truly realize what a blessing it is to be a mother. It is moments like these that put everything into perspective.

It wasn’t anything special really. Last week I was sweeping up the kitchen floor which was covered with remnants of coloring pages, wrapping paper, crayons, snacks, etc. As I looked down at the mess, my first thought was “How many times in one day do I have to sweep this kitchen floor?” Then I looked up and caught a glimpse of the kids out of the corner of my eye. They were running around giggling and chasing each other through the house.

It was one of those rare moments when things seemed strangely perfect. Nobody was crying, nobody was screaming, everyone was having fun. I had the strangest feeling come over me that nearly brought tears to my eyes. It was just one of the tender moments where I realized how lucky I am to have six healthy, happy children. As I scooped up my pile of scraps from the floor I realized that this pile represented a lot of happiness – several cute pictures hung on the walls, birthday presents unwrapped, sticky smiley faces, and so much more.

As a very busy mom, I appreciate moments like these, even as brief as it was, to remind me how fortunate I am. I wouldn’t trade my job for anything in this world. Yes, it can be tiring, exhausting and some days are really, really hard, but nothing can provide the satisfaction that comes from being a mom. I wouldn’t trade one of Ellie’s big grins or one of Drew’s slobbery kisses. I wouldn’t trade bear hugs from Claire or back rubs from KK. I wouldn’t trade my late night conversations with Meg or shooting hoops with Jacob (even though he is getting better than me now). I just wouldn’t trade it for anything. I appreciate these subtle reminders that make me reflect on how much I love doing what I do.