I’m a busy mom. It seems like my todo lists are always a mile long and I can’t quite keep up with all that I have to do in any given day. I’m raising two kids, I work fulltime from home (which often means middle-of-the-night working), I cook, clean and do all the regular mom stuff. I try to be a good friend, I’m still struggling with depression and at the end of the day I’m not as organized with all my commitments as I’d like to be.
Don’t get me wrong, todo lists help. I can prioritize things, and see at a glance, what else I need to get done today (and what can be pushed to tomorrow).
I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling of never catching up-ness. Perhaps it is the culture we live in, but every one is busy, it’s a constant go-go-go.
Personally I enjoy a busy life. But sometimes all the busyness (and the business) get in the way of simply living life. Of being present with my kids and my husband. I forget to see the beauty in the everyday moments. I forget to be bored with the ones I love and to sit and do nothing together, because sometimes doing nothing can mean everything.
I forget that planning a fun outing can sometimes make fewer memories than running around the house playing hide-and-seek with my preschoolers or running out in the mud after it’s rained.
It’s a constant struggle, the war between the todo list and the desire for a normal, even mundane life.
I know my own weaknesses, my desire to see checkmarks on a page at the end of the day. The feeling of accomplishment that I get when I know I’ve done “enough”. I’m also all to aware of the guilt that overwhelms me when I see 50 checkmarks that demonstrate a work load well taken care of, but I know there are two children who lie in the other room that I didn’t giggle with today.
It’s not that I ever ignore them. We eat, I bathe them, I make sure they have fun…but I don’t always giggle with them, and at the end of the day I wonder is there anything more important than those little laughs?
So my todo list changed.
Now, written there among all the other things that strive for my attention, like “laundry” and “clients”, is now written “giggles”. It’s a reminder that of all the things I need to check off my list in a day, none is more important than making a memory with my children. Than making them laugh and filling their hearts with the knowledge that I love them. More than any todo list. More than any job I could ever hold, those giggles mean the world.
Even if it’s the end of the day, and even on days when we’ve all messed up and had the worst time, we find a way to share a moment together, to pass on love in a way that makes sense to them.
Sure, I work because I love my kids and I want to provide for them. Every load of laundry washed and each meal I cook is because I love them, but they have no way of seeing that. They see my love through giggles. So through giggles I will show it!
Do you make a point to laugh together every day? How has it changed your home?
Nikki says
Perfect! I love how this helps to keep the point the point: our kids are our biggest priority, and at the end of the day it’s nice to be at to check off that their needs were met.
Paula Farris says
Oooooo! Thank you for this! I sometimes think, in the world of a child, that “love” is spelled t-i-m-e. The “time” set aside just for them is what they value the most. Whether that time contains cuddles, dances, laughs, tea parties, or Nerf gun battles matters little to a little one. They only know what that “time” communicates– L O V E.
Lisa says
Beautiful! Life is a spiral, the laundry will always be there, but the children grow and change.