I am a Mom

I am a Mom.

I can’t always tell you what I did yesterday.

I don’t shower regularly.

I can’t keep a clean house. Or even keep up with the housework.

I can’t stop worrying that something terrible might happen to my kids.

I am a mom.

I lose patience.

I get frustrated. Especially when I have to answer the question, “Why?” for the millionth time.

I wish I could go back to the “before kids” days. Or I look ahead to the empty-nest days.

I beg. I plead. I bribe.

I sneak chocolate during nap time.

I am a mom.

I can’t do all the things I used to do. Like go out to eat whenever I want. Or see a movie. Or stay up as late as I want. Or have a lazy day. Or meet a friend for coffee. Or serve on a committee. Or work full-time. Or dedicate myself to my work.

I am a mom.

But I CAN:

• name all the characters in my kids’ favorite shows.
• spot or smell poop from across the room.
• distract my kids from temper tantrums. I’m becoming a master at this art.
• juggle, as in do three or four things at one time. But I’m forever dropping the ball on something.
• use one hand to do things that usually require two.
• make just about anything into a song if it’ll make my kids smile or giggle.
• tell stories at a moment’s notice, like in the public restroom where my daughter is potty training while we’re out shopping.
• read stories for the billionth time.
• be a doctor, a firefighter, a police officer, a queen, and a cook, all in the course of a day. And be prepared to be any or all of those at the whim of my daughter’s imagination.
• bargain hunt.
• survive on only a few hours of sleep, sometimes with coffee, sometimes not.
• give up chocolate for my baby. (But oh, is that hard.)

I am a mom.

I’m never perfect, but I’m always right. At least that’s what I tell myself when I start to doubt.

I’m not graceful (Is that a Cheeto handprint on my shirt? Did you just wipe snot on my pants?) but hope to be full of grace. At this, too, I fail.

I say, “No” a lot. I worry about the mess. I take life too serious.

But God gives me another day. And He doesn’t give up on me.

I am a mom.

I don’t always love my job, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.