Today, I feel like a mommy. I know....I am a mommy, you may say! I know. But if you are also a mommy, sometimes you would agree that we don't always "feel" like one. Sometimes, we feel like a taxi driver, an organizer, a personal maid, chef, accountant, babysitter, etc. There are certain times in a mommy's life though that make her FEEL like a mommy.
One of them is playing with your children. Playing in the yard. Not just watching them play, but truly playing with them. When Jason was nearly four years old, he was sad one day because it had rained all day and we couldn't go outside and play. After the rain had passed, I dressed us in our oldest torn up clothes and he and I went outside with baking dishes and spoons and had a mud pie party. We sat in the middle of a huge mud puddle and patted water and mud together into the dishes and we made mud pies and mud cakes, pancakes and a lot of things he made up. We had a blast. He looked at me like I was crazy when I went outside and sat in the middle of the mud puddles but it didn't take him very long to join me! We truly played that day. For those of you who know me well, you probably wouldn't think that is something I would not enjoy or do. I don't like to be dirty and I really don't like for the kids to get that dirty. Totally out of my character but THIS is one of my favorite "mommy" memories and I don't have a single picture of it because sometimes, the most precious moments are those you can't possibly catch on film in any way. They are only etched into your memory for nobody else to see except with their imaginations as you tell them the story.
On his 4th birthday, I woke him up at 9:30 at night on a Friday night and took him in his PJ's to the carnival at the mall parking lot! THIS he remembers! We rode just 3 or 4 rides and ate a funnel cake and then went back home, but this is a great memory, too! Something that he did that he couldn't believe I let him! What mom takes her kids to the carnival at 10 O'Clock at night IN their pj's? (his pj's, not mine! I was fully clothed or this story could have had a much different ending! "Crazy Mother Jailed for Lack of Judgement in Public!" haha)
I felt it was necessary to do the things that a little boy would like and along with playing in the mud that day I have also chased frogs, picked up turtles and built habitats for them, coached a soccer team (YIKES!) and many other "mommy resume" worthy things for the sake of a little boy.
With Sarah, it's different stuff.......stuff I wouldn't think twice about doing. Last week, I did the entire "Bella Cheerleader" video with her...pom-poms and all!Yes, I was out of breath at the end..........the girl who leads that is like 10 years old! haha The video is CLEARLY made for children or those who have LOTS of energy and even more flexibility! BUT we had so much fun and she loved that Mommy was doing it with her! That is usually what I allow her to do while I am trying to "get things done". Somedays it's a little thing like playing with her in her room and "cooking" something in her rose petal cottage. Getting in the cottage with her and pretending it's our house in which I would be the Giant Mommy! haha
One of my favorite things to do is cook. (obviously!) haha I love to cook for my family and friends. I love that feeling of starting a recipe and then seeing a finished product come out of the oven and Jason walking in the house and saying "WHAT are you cooking? It smells great in here!" I love baking cookies with them after school and making homemade hot cocoa on cold mornings or nights. Today, I made...for the first time in my LIFE...homemade chicken noodle soup. I know, it may sound blah...chicken noodle soup. Who cares? Well.......if you could smell it right now, you would! haha
Jason is going to the dentist to have 4 teeth extracted this afternoon. I know that he loves soup and he will be so excited to know that I made him his very own pot of chicken noodle soup that I've NEVER even made before! I know he is going to smell it when we get home from the dentist and that it will comfort him after having his teeth pulled. I hope that he knows how much I love him and that someday, when I'm not around hopefully YEARS from now, he will think back to this pot of soup that his mommy made him when he was not feeling good. I know he won't remember the time we played in the mud, but if I keep adding things to their memories now to show them how much I love them and how much they mean to me, someday, all of those memories will add up to something special for them both.
I know that some of you may think I have too much time on my hands.........I wonder myself, sometimes! haha I know most of you who read this blog work FULL-time both at home and at a career. I did that, too. I will say that no matter what your circumstances, what your life is like......if you take just a few minutes out of every day to make sure your family knows how much you love them by doing some random act of kindness......it will make a difference in your life and theirs. I want you all to know that I think the world of all of my friends who are and who aren't moms. Some of you work relentlessly and still raise a family, some of you work full time to prepare yourselves for when you have a family and some of you give yourselves compeletly to your family. I hope you all know what an inspiration you all are to me.
When I worked full-time, I had an office mate, Juli who I would hear on the phone with her teenage daughter every morning as she called to wake her up. Of course, somedays, she had a hard time accomplishing that task, but it was always done with so much love in her voice. I could hear the love oozing out of her as she said "Honey, it's 7:45....you need to get up........I LOVE YOU............Sweetie....if you hear me.........get up...........I love you..." I always admired her calm tone of voice and that was over the phone! That is the first and last way every single day that you can show your children how much you love them. Waking them up and tucking them in. (Until they get old enough that you don't anymore.........but I don't know.........a phone call worked for Juli.)
If you are not a mommy, there's a chance that you are one to someone and you don't realize it....you could be a girlfriend or a wife or a big sister or a little sister or a daughter or even just a good friend who at sometime fills that role as Mommy in someones life. I guarantee you that someone is thankful to have you!
I hope you all are having a great day today and feel truly worthy of your title...MOMMY!
:) "Mommy" Sharon
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