If You Give a Mom a Minute

  • By Trish Berg
  • September 29, 2011
  • 316
                        
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. It happens like clockwork. After my youngest kiddo leaves for school, I let out a big sigh of relief. Accomplishing that task, launching four children into their school day, is quite an accomplishment in and of itself. When they were little, we spent time snuggling under quilts reading books, now I spend time packing lunches and carpooling them to basketball and cross country practice. Life keeps changing and the demands keep growing. One of our favorite bedtime stories used to be If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff. It’s a cute story full of intrigue, suspense, and yes, cookies and milk. It’s about a mouse, who in his selfishness is never quite satisfied with what he is given (kind of like me). Needless to say, I have the story memorized. Throughout my day, I sometimes find myself not only reciting it in my head, but wondering what would happen if I was given something even sweeter than a cookie……what if I was given a minute. If you give a mom a minute, she’ll probably want a cup of tea. When you get her the tea, she’ll probably want a lemon crumb muffin to go with it. When you give her the lemon crumb muffin, she’ll want to sit in the big comfy chair and relax. Sitting in the big comfy chair will remind her to put her feet up. Once she puts her feet up, she’ll notice that her feet are cold. She’ll run and get her want her warm fuzzy slippers. Then she’ll decide to read a good book. As she opens the book, she’ll begin to feel guilty since she hasn’t read her devotional for the day. So she’ll get out her Bible. As she reads her devotional, and thanks the Lord for the blessings in her life, she’s reminded that she has no idea what to make for supper. That’s when her stomach will begin to grumble. So she’ll head into the kitchen to make something for supper. Going into the kitchen will remind her that she never did the breakfast or lunch dishes. So she’ll take a deep breath, and begin to load the dishwasher. Loading the dishwasher will remind her that she left a plate in the family room with her lemon crumb muffin on it. So she’ll head out to the family room to get it. As she approaches the big comfy chair, she’ll notice that there are crumbs all over the carpet since her biggest blessings decided to eat her muffin, and weren’t very neat about it. The crumbs on the carpet will remind her that she needs to run the sweeper. As she walks to the closet to get the sweeper, she passes by the kitchen and notices that she accidentally left the water running. At full sprint, she’ll hit the faucet just before the water runs over the edge of the sink. As she turns the water off, she’ll notice the lemon crumb muffins in the Tupperware container on the counter. So she’ll decide to eat a lemon crumb muffin. Eating a lemon crumb muffin will make her thirsty for a cup of tea. And chances are, if she gets herself a cup of tea, she’ll want a minute to go with it. The end. Like clockwork, my children will grow up, and my minutes will be my own again. For now, I’ll gladly settle for cold tea, stale muffins, and hugs and kisses from four kids who know what truly matters.


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