My Mother's Day Resolution

My girl loves pink.  From her helmet to her shoes to her scooter.



Lately, Max loves to do eskimo kisses. He stays totally still and smiles as I rub my nose back and forth. It's the sweetest thing.


I'm being intentional about asking Josh to take pictures of me with the kids.


Convicted-- that's how I've been feeling lately.  I've been thinking about how I want my children to remember their childhood.  How I want them to remember their Mother.  Surely, through pictures and memories they will remember that I was (am) madly in love with them.  And also that I loved having fun and laughing.  They might remember how we do "body slams" and "one for the money" as well as piggy back rides, "boom-shaka-laka", "he hit the tree, Jim", funny faces, dancing and singing, and raspberries on tummies.

I fear they will equally remember a frequently stressed out Mom.  And that is what convicts me.

As a working mother, I (we) have too much to do on the weekends.  It's hard to do much during the week so the list becomes long on the weekend.

Make the meal plan
Grocery shop
Laundry
Clean the house (which gets extra dirty from having daycare here 3x/week)
Birthday parties
Family events
To-do list
Make freezer meals so dinner doesn't (only) include take-out during the week
Reconnect with my husband
And most importantly, spend precious time with my children

The result of fitting that list into two short days is a STRESSED OUT Mama.

Being stressed out can also mean being short-tempered, having anxiety, and being laser-focused on what I need to do.

I know that my children notice.  They are very aware of what's going on around them.  I'd be fooling myself to think that it doesn't affect them.  And I will be damned if that's a memory they hold onto from childhood.

So, I need to relax.  Loosen my expectations and standards.  Just be okay with (much) less than perfection.

My children won't remember the imperfections in our lives-- the nights we eat frozen pizza or the times they wear pants out of the dirty hamper because I didn't get to that load in time. But they will remember a mother who was filled with joy and laughter and made it a top priority to just BE with them, wrestling on the floor, reading books, teaching them how to ride a bike-- and ignoring the demands of the world behind her.  

That is my mother's day resolution.