Struggling with loads of laundry, clutter in the kitchen and chaos in your life? Stress can easily steal our joy. Trish Berg reminds us to simplify the small stuff and find Joy in the Journey.
There once was a day (a very normal day) many years ago, when I sat in my kitchen with my eldest daughter, Hannah, and wondered if I would ever again get out of my house. I was feeding her lunch and the four walls seemed to be closing in on me. There she sat ooing and cooing at me with strained peas and mashed sweet potatoes on her face and all I could think about was whether or not I would be held hostage by those four walls for the next twenty years. It was a very small kitchen moment of my life, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
That was over sixteen years ago, and since then my mothering has gone through many changes. I spent over ten years with babies and toddlers on my hip and dirty diapers stinking up my trash cans. There were sleepless nights, naptime struggles and more spit up than I care to recall. During those years, I spent much of my time pregnant, nursing, and praying. I did a lot of praying.
For the last five years or so, I have spent most of my time sitting in my four door minivan, carpooling my tweens and teens to and from school, lessons and libraries. I spend my days washing laundry, folding laundry, putting laundry away, sorting socks, and wondering why I always end up with a single mismatched sock, fishing peanut butter cracker wrappers out of my lint catch in the dryer. (I am not sure why that surprises me as the wrappers also hibernate under my couch cushions.)
I may not change diapers any longer, but I do unplug the toilet on a daily basis. Feeding my toddlers finger food has been replaced by feeding my teenagers pizza several nights each week. Looking back, I wish I would have bought stock in Cheez-Its and Gatorade for as much as we consume them. I might have been a millionaire by now.
Speaking of money, it seems to flow out of my wallet faster than we can earn it for ski trips, movie dates, team fees, field trips and late night Taco Bell runs. We have invested in American Eagle jeans and Under Armor attire (which I think should be woven with 14K gold in the material for as much as they cost).
Its not all bad. I have spent enough time learning how to operate, download, manage and trouble-shoot iPods, WiFi and apps that I have earned a Ph.D. in iTunes. I am not sure that degree is marketable outside of my own house, but I do expect the certificate in the mail any day now.
Mothering teens may be different than mothering toddlers, but in some ways, my life is still the same. I used to worry about my toddlers sleeping through the night or falling down and hitting their head on the corner of the coffee table. Now I worry about my teens driving on icy roads, dating (not until they are thirty), and most of all, remembering that I love them even though we seem to squabble about the little things in life.
I guess my very small kitchen moments have been replaced by very big realities. My four kitchen walls have been traded in for four doors on my minivan. But all in all, I still worry, wait and pray.
I guess some things never change.
