The mind spins from one task to another and half the time, you are trying to remember what it was that you forgot. In fact, youre not even sure if you actually forgot anything! And the kids are screaming for you all the time and you feel yourself losing grasp of life, of livingof control. An ordinary day of a mother. Its amazing, if you look at the way a mother spins from one chore to another, how they (we) keep sane. I sometimes sit down after the kids have gone to bed and wonder how I survived the day. I wonder if there is a rope that kept me hanging in there to keep me falling into the dreaded pits of insanity. Sometimes, giving up or running away seems like such a wonderful solution! Its scary. But there is a way to keep sane. And that is to remind ourselves that we love ourselves and we love our kids! It sounds so elementary, right? And it sounds as if I am rattling off about nothing, right? Wrong. Lets imagine the laundry is spinning in the washing machine and theres another pile waiting to be loaded. Imagine that youve just finished washing up all the plates, cups, forks and spoons after dinnerand now, theres ANOTHER pile there. Imagine that the floor is sticky because the kids spilt syrup at the dining table but stepped over it and spread the stickiness all over the house. Imagine that youve got a report to finish tonight because its due tomorrow and if you dont hand it up tomorrow, your boss is going to have a fit. And the kids are screaming because Kid 1 just accidentally bumped Kid 2 off the bed and theyre yelling for you to become umpireAGAIN. Such a frantic life, we live. Now, heres what you do. At this point, you feel like breaking everything or maybe justbreak away from this chaos. But hang in there, stop yourself from going over the edge by breathing. Ok, now that youre breathing again, walk slowly into the kids room where theyre fighting. Resist the urge to scream or kick up a fuss. Check to see if anyones injured and then talk to them slowly and gently. This takes effort, I tell you but it WILL work. Then, you will slowly feel the pain and frustration ebb away. The throbbing is less now. Look your children in the eye and feel them. Look at them. And I mean LOOK at them. Look into their eyes and remind yourself that theyre only xx age and theyre acting their age. And then reach out to hug them. I know this is easy but hardbut it CAN be done! The whole time were caring for our kids and spouse, how many hours or minutes do you think we spend enjoying our kids? In the whirlwind of the day, we forget that they are kids and we love them. Frustration overshadows that love and affection. Only when we make an effort to calm down and reflect on their age and their character and the role that they play in our lives will we truly enjoy them. Its extremely important that we enjoy our kids because they are not ours forever. They are their own and we are only borrowing our kids for the time that they need usand they wont need us forever. Soon, there will be a void in our lives and in our hearts. So, dont let frustration and the angst of everyday life stop us from enjoying our kids while they still need us. |
