A Mommy's Mapped Out Madness

Ever wonder what stay-at-home-moms do all day? I am so glad you asked...

I start loading the dishwasher,  when I notice poo crawling up Little Mans back. I grab the utensil that Linebacker has snatched from the dishwasher basket, replace it, close the door and pick
Little Man up-- at arms length. I rush him to the bathtub and carefully strip him down.

By this point, Linebacker and Sister would also be in the tiny shared bathroom observing and shrieking, "Poo!poo!" I get the mess cleaned up, get Little Man freshly diapered and dressed, only to turn around and catch Linebacker just as he almost drops head first into the stinky bathtub. I shoo them all out of the bathroom and close the door.

 I sit all three in child-sized chairs in front of a Caillou episode, and grab the Lysol. I rush back to clean out the tub. I wipe it down quickly and grab the poo trash. To the garbage it goes... and to a halt I come, as I enter the kitchen and see Linebacker carrying a crystal candlestick. I decide which is more important, and quickly ditch the poo mess on the buffet to grab the candlestick and save myself a hospital trip. I put the candlestick up and for the hundredth time remind myself to get Nick to put a safety latch on that cabinet.

I go back to the poo mess and dispose of it properly, grabbing the Lysol and heading to the buffet. It is then that Sister calls out that she is hungry. I ask her what she wants as she stares blankly at the television. Three repetitions of this question later, I still have no answer. So I grab Little Man's soiled clothes and run downstairs to the washing machine.

I turn the water on scalding, throw the clothes in with extra Oxi-Clean, and run back upstairs hoping to see everyone nicely sitting in their chairs. When I hit the top of the stairs, I hear Sister scream, "Moooommyyyyy... I'm hunnngryyyy!" I walk into the kitchen scolding her for screaming and ask her what she wants. Blank stare. 

I head back to the bathroom for a potty break when I hear water running in the hallway. I did just start the wash, but this is coming from upstairs. Linebacker wasn't in the kitchen... CHIT. I left the master bath door open and Linebacker helped himself to our walk in shower.

There he stood, fully clothed, grinning from ear to ear despite the water streaming down his face. Mommy potty time will have to wait. I turn the water off, wrap him in a towel, and head to his room to try to find some clean dry clothes. As I am pulling his diaper off, it busts open and those lovely little balls of whatever they are go everywhere.

 Great.

About this time, I hear Sister scream again, "Mooooommyyyyyy... I said I'm hunnngrryyyy!" I quickly dress Linebacker and throw his soaking clothes into the laundry chute.

I barge into the kitchen and stand in front of whining Caillou on TV. "What do you want???" I ask sharply. I have learned not to just make her something because it will not be the right thing. Now that I am in front of the TV, I finally have her attention. "Macaroni and cheese," she says. I don't care at this point if it is ten o'clock in the morning, mac'n'cheese it is.

Now that Little Man sees that the kitchen is open, he runs over to the utensil drawer and says,"Poon!" This means that he wants a spoonful of cookie butter. (If you have never had this, you are truly missing out! Trader Joe's cookie butter...you'll thank me later)

I scoop him a giant heap out and hand it over. Back to the mac and cheese...which happens to be Easy Mac. Don't judge. Now Linebacker comes in and I go ahead and scoop him out some cookie butter and hand it to him... I know that it's coming.

Mac'n'cheese is finally done, so I drop a piece of ice in it and put it on the table. "Mommy, it's hot!" Sister screams. "It will cool off in a second," I respond. 

Time for mommy to try to potty now. I scoot back to the bathroom, stopping to dry the soaked floor, and finally making it to the potty-- followed by the boys. 

"Poon!" Little Man says and shoves the spoon at me.

"Just a minute!" I respond. 

Linebacker walks behind the toilet and drops his spoon in.

Lovely.

I finish my business, fish the spoon out of the water, and get everyone out of the bathroom. We get back to the kitchen and I take the spoon to the sink and remember where this all started-- the dishwasher.

Back to work.

This is what it is like to be a mommy of three very small children. I sometimes feel like I am running in circles all day long, and I never get anything accomplished. I live in a state of exhaustion, physical and mental. I constantly correct, guide, and care for these children.

Being a mommy is not instantly rewarding, in fact, it may be thirty years before I see a reward in hopefully grown successful children. It is not like a promotion at work, or a bonus for a "job well done." But I have to keep on grooming and loving them, because they are my children and God has entrusted them to me.

Don't you know that God does that to us?  He gently nudges, grooms, and loves us. If we are taking a wrong path, He steers us back. If we make a horrible mess, He gives us a way out. If we make wrong decisions, He loves us through it. 

If he can have the persistance to stick it out with me, I can surely stick it out for my children. Because I absolutely love them-- just like He loves me!