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.
As I sat there at Applebees, I took a mental picture of the situation. Their menu had many yummy appetizers, scrumptious meals and sweet treat desserts. But who would have ever thought that buying a goat would be on the menu at Applebees. And yet, there we were, sitting at a table bidding on a market goat during an online breeders auction.
It was a fun memory I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams when dreaming about the menu of my life. Then again, there are many off-the-menu things that I have experienced in the last seventeen years of motherhood. Lets face it; motherhood is not as picture-perfect as I may have thought.
Earlier this week I attended my daughters first high school track meet to cheer her on as she ran the 300 hurdles for the first time. It was a little chilly, but I never expected it to rain. There I was in capris and canvas shoes, soaked head to toe, standing outside of the track cheering for Sydney as she ran her race. The down-poor was bitterly cold, and the runners all dripped with rain-water. The track was slick, and after watching two runners wipe out and skid on the track, I prayed that Sydney made it through the finish line with a major fall.
She did. I cheered. We all went home to hot showers and warm tea. But wet feet and soaking clothes were not on my motherhood-menu.
Every summer, I spend time with my children walking their 4H Heifers and market goats. I help wash them, blow them dry, and primp them for the fair. I then spend a week at the fair walking, talking, hanging out and cheering my kiddos on as they show their animals.
Living in the beef barn at the Wayne County fairgrounds was not on my motherhood-menu.
I spend hours each day in my minivan driving my children to and from practices, and to their events to cheer them on. I am positive when I pictured motherhood it did not involve taking up a permanent residency in the drivers seat of my minivan.
I know the best way to get rid of acne, how to scrape old gum off of the bottom of a sneaker and how to get spilled nail polish off of a leather couch without hurting the leather. I can pinpoint a lie the minute the words leave their lips, wash and fold a load of laundry while simultaneously cooking supper and help my son study the history of the Vikings without breaking a sweat. I know where Waldo is, have sent Flat Stanley around the world and can even make an armadillo out of a milk carton in a pinch. I am the queen of the last-minute-school-poster-board-project, the master of shopping for lunch box treats and can whip supper together in less than fifteen minutes when necessary.
But none of those things were on the menu-of-motherhood when I dreamed of what it might be like to raise a family.
So my Applebees-goat-buying-adventure was a great success. We had the winning bid on the goat we wanted, and enjoyed supper and dessert with Sydney in the process. I know that twenty years from now, she will look back on that night with fondness. And if she forgets, I will be there to remind her.
I guess some of the best motherhood-adventures are the ones that are off-the-menu. And maybe, just maybe, thats what makes motherhood so picture perfect in the first place.
