Mamas

Bathtime

             It’s hard being a mama. You know, if you are one. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several other mamas out here. Some mamas have one baby, some mamas have 6. But I feel like we all have the same thing in common: We all want to spend as much time loving on our kids as we do cleaning the house, working, cooking, changing diapers, spending time with our husbands, exercising, spending time with the Lord, and the other thousand responsibilities we have in and outside of the home. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Instead, we miss so much of our kids’ lives by fulfilling those “other” duties. Is it our fault? No, these things have to get done. But how can we MAXIMIZE our time with our kids so as to satisfy their need to have their mama there full-time, plus fulfill our duties faithfully?

So happy!

When I was in college, I lived with a woman with 4 kids and watched her interactions with them. She had the same duties I had. She worked, she had babies at a time, she was busy ALL the time, she was the sole cook and cleaner of her house, etc. But she always seemed to enjoy her time.  When her kids sat and watched a tv show, she sat down and watched it with them. When they wanted to ride bikes, she rode with them. When they had soccer games, she sat the whole time. Sure, her house was not the cleanest all the time, but it was always presentable, and her kids were always satisfied with the time she gave them. She didn’t worry about the cleaning and cooking as much as I do sometimes. When her husband came home, instead of agonizing about how much he doesn’t help around the house, she put the vacuum down and playfully sat next to him.

Cheeeeeeeese

                Husbands need wives. Children need mamas. But as much as we serve and sacrifice, we also have to remember that they need liveliness in us, too. They need us to be playful. They need us to be relaxed. They need us to be quick to laugh, and slow to anger (isn’t there something in Scripture about that?). They need us to enjoy the moments, not just live in them. They need us to sing and smile just as much as we clean and cook. They need us to tickle and giggle as much as we burp and feed. I hope I spend this month being a mama like that.

When Evie had a fever, this is what we did