Has this week been rough moms? I know we’ve had quite the last TWO weeks at our house. My husband had surgery one week and then this week, one by one we all got a stomach bug…
I’ll spare you those glorious details but it’s just been rough all around. Not enough sleep. Too much at-home time. Toddlers that don’t feel well. Mommy that doesn’t feel well. You get the picture.
My house has been messy, I’ve been grumpy and generally not present in my kids lives. It’s hard. Hard to be a mom on the best days and indescribable on the worst.
If you’re having a doozy of a week, I just wanted to offer you some encouragement too. If your house is messy and you are feeling bad about your homemaking skills, just check out this post. Real life pictures from my real life house. Because sometimes we just need to be real about where we’re at, so we can all work on getting better together.
One thing I like to remember after a tough week is that next week can always be better. I read words like the beautiful ones written in this post, and I’m reminded that I can be more present, and when I’m not sick and can go all in and be in my kids lives as much as they’ll have me! “You have to be present to win”. I may not have done the best this week, but the amazing thing is I have my kids next week, and the week after that too. We can keep trying together. Not gonna let a bad week or a bad day get us down!
When it comes down to it, we do know the best ways to get our kids to smile. We’re the first ones that can bring peace into the home, and we can start right now. That’s the beauty. We can bring it in at any time. Even if today, this week or even this year so far has been hard. We can stop right now. And take a moment to smile with them. Do something silly, even if you are tired of playing. I love that it doesn’t have to be huge, even the littlest of stolen moments can make a huge difference in your day!
As we go into this next week, let’s be thankful that the last few days are behind us. We can enter them with new hope and a renewed courage to face the tantrums and over come the whiny-ness and just show love in every possible way we can. Let’s commit to let our priorities be shown in our actions and to make our kids giggle, at least twice a day.
Here’s to motherhood the hard days and the lovely ones. And everything in between .
Just Plain Marie says
I KNOW it sounds cliched to say that they’ll soon be grown up, but it’s true. The thing that gets me through toddler years is a story that King Solomon once asked his wise men to find him the most powerful words. They came back to him and said they had four words that, together, could make the sad man happy and the happy man sad.
“This, too, shall pass.”
That phrase has got me through a lot of rough times and kept me calm during great times.
Our youngest (and final) baby was born at home May 18. The next day, our 7 year old got an infected belly button – have you ever heard of such a thing? – and I was at the hospital with him until 1 am. The next morning, we all woke up puking with the most horrible gastro flu I’ve ever had. Both parents sick with vomiting and diarrhea, three young children to care for, and a baby who was TWO days old. The awful days, weeks, and months happen.
And of them, memories are made.
I hope you feel better really soon.