1. A mom gives up her brain: The amount of time I spend finding everyone else's crap I am truly amazed when I can find anything of mine when I need it. Granted I loose my car keys, cell phone, glasses, and pens within 30 seconds, all while standing/sitting in one spot, but that's because I just found four shoes that were spread across two stories and in four different rooms, the pjs the kids took off in the most random places while I was trying to shower, a stuffed animal that wandered into the car during dinner, and that random piece of foam you found at the store today and are now convinced it is a piece of pirate treasure that you have to keep within arms reach (except when you went to the bathroom an forgot about it for an hour).
2. A mom gives up sleep: Some mothers give up sleep for a much longer period of time than others, but we all do it. Personally I have lost at least 3 years of sleep in the past 7 years of being a mother. I had a weird issue while pregnant that I would only sleep for about 2-3 hours a night. Then the sleep sucking babies were born and needed attention throughout the nights. Apparently those cute adorable babies need to eat, even at night, and someone needs to feed them. After they are done with night feedings they create new reasons to need you, sickness, bloody nose, bad dreams, they can't find the rock they snuck into bed after you told them "no" seven times to. Even after they out grow that stage they invent something like sleep talking or walking, you can't sleep for a moment thinking you will wake up with your child sleep standing next to your bed. I think my personal favorite was when my child started sleep screaming in the middle of the night when my husband wasn't home. I thought the adrenaline was going to give me a heart attach.
3. A mom gives up warm meals: For all children up through age 4 the best gift they can give their mother is a warm meal. I would even settle for a reheated meal some nights. I will admit, I'm not a great cook, only because I don't have the time or the patience to cook after a full day of work, but still eating what is supposed to be warm food while it is still warm would be wonderful. I spend so much time cutting, feeding, serving, grabbing the stuff that I left on the counter that by the time I sit down to eat everyone is done and my husband is putting away the leftovers. Not only is the food cold, but now I'm also alone eating it.
4. A mom gives up a clean organized house: It's been said before but I will say it again, cleaning a house while you have small children is the definition of insanity. Babies are programmed robots to remove anything and everything from the organization they are placed in (books on shelves, toys in baskets, food in the pantry) they actually follow you around while you're cleaning and undo everything 10 seconds after you do it. Older children are just messy. My son and toothpaste are in an epic battle that I have sworn off his bathroom for the next 10 years because I just don't understand how there could be toothpaste in the locations I have found it. At this point it might be easier to move than clean.
There are many more things mothers do that go unnoticed by their children for many many years, however, once they notice them they have a higher amount of respect for their mothers and are amazed that even in an age without technology, our mothers survived. Maybe there is still hope for us. Maybe someday my children will understand what I did for them, maybe they won't, either way, I wouldn't give it up for the world. A belly laugh and a slobber kiss from the baby and a hand colored card from the older kid is compensation enough for all I give up.
Love you kids, love you mom.
1 comment:
Sooo true!! It never fails when the food is ready the baby needs a nap and I'm stuck eating alone...cold food! And amen on that toothpaste thing...what do they do to get it EVERYWHERE?!!
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