A day in the life...

Warning: Potty talk.  As in, I literally talk about the potty and the bid-ness that goes on in {and, unfortunately, around} it.

It's Sunday.  {Someday it will be "a day of rest", right? Right?!} This afternoon I was making dinner, Ty had a meeting at 3:00, Tuck was taking a nap, the kids were playing sweetly and quietly together, beautiful Sunday music was streaming through Pandora, and I got to the "...and whisk constantly for 3 minutes" part of the recipe when my babe {who is overtired and only got a morning nap in Ty's arms for a bit at church} wakes up s-c-r-e-a-m-i-n-g.  He needed to sleep more {so much more, it had only been 40-ish minutes} and I was going to give it a minute to see if he would go back to sleep when I hear my very helpful three-year-old go into Tucker's room "Hi, bud!"  Aaack!  I run upstairs to try and lay the babe back down, find that my helpful three-year-old, Everett Daniel, is naked from the waist down.  "Did you have an accident?" Nods his head.  "Okay, get some new underwear and put your dirty clothes in the washing machine."  Take care of the babe {he's still not wanting to sleep, but I know he really needs it so I put him back down}, run downstairs to "whisk constantly".  Pretty soon Everett peeks at me around the corner while I am whisking away.  "Did you put new underwear on, bud?"  Slowly shakes his head.  "Why?  You need to go put new underwear on."  "But I can't!  You need to wipe me first!"  "Oh! You pooped?" Nods.  "On the potty?" Shakes his head no.  "Everett, where did you poop?"  "On the floor in your bathroom."  Ugh!  Awesome.  Get the recipe to a decent stopping point, find the mess on the bathroom floor...it's squished.  He stepped in it.  Fabulous.  Clean up my boy, pull off his socks, ask him why in the world there is poop and pee on the floor right in front of the toilet...{why, oh why, couldn't he have just scooted that tiny booty onto the seat 6 inches away before doing his bid-ness?!}  Oh well. Baby's still screaming so I am trying to move fast. Get the mess all cleaned up, walk past the family room to see that there is poop on the floor on the carpet..."Riiight...'cause he stepped in it," I lament to the only person who cares...me. Quickly clean that up so that nobody else steps in it, then hurry upstairs to calm a very sad babe.  It takes a while because, you know, poor little man has been crying for a long time.  Lay him back down {against his will because mama knows better than the 10-month-old what the 10-month-old needs} and return to the task of finishing dinner.  Babe is asleep in less than two minutes, Max helped Ev get his button-up shirt off so he could change into his true love {pajamas}, and dinner is in the oven within ten minutes.  Pandora is still playing the peaceful Sunday music and serenity is mine once more.  Ya know, for five minutes.

Tonight at dinner Kelly asked me, "Do you like what you are?"  "What I am?  You mean a mom?"  She nods her head.  Yes!  I love what I am - I love being a mom.  Even in the midst of nastiness and chaos, I really, really love this gig.  Okay, maybe I don't revel in cleaning up feces, but the good hugely outweighs the bad.

Have you seen the Values.com commercial "Memories: pass them on"?  Oh man, if you haven't, do yourself a favor and click HERE to watch it.  I've just seen it a few times, but I cannot watch it without tears.  I literally sobbed on the couch the other night when it came on.  I sat and thought about this time with my kids.  It is so tiring, so demanding, so overwhelming...and so, so wonderful.  The kids say the funniest things, they love without condition and with ALL of themselves, they are creative, they are becoming the people they will go out into the world as and I am honored to be a part of this time and to do all that I am required to do to make sure they are good and happy and kind and prepared for what life may throw their way.  

I am a mom...and, dang, I love it!