Memories: Precious Pictures

Memories: Precious Pictures: Christmastime.

Bottle of Joy

I wish there was a way to bottle up all the sweet times I have with the boys and pull them out when they are driving me nuts. I just put baby Blake-a-do to bed, who is not quite a baby anymore. After laying him down once for him to protest after 5 minutes, I went back up to console the tired little guy. Rocking with him was so sweet and fun. We rubbed noses and smiled and laughed. He persistently tried to stick his finger in my mouth and found it funny when I would "bite" it. I know I need to cherish these times. My oldest, now 4 has already outgrown rocking before bed. And as I sit with my "baby" I know I will miss these days.  Right now it seems they will always be here and my frustrations will always be little temper tantrums when the boys don't get their way. But I know that the temper tantrums will give way to arguments about staying up late and why pulling your brother along on a skateboard while you are biking is not only a terrible idea, it's very dangerous. I know I will still have sweet times with my boys, but they just won't be the same. So whenever I can I try to make mental notes of these times in my brain and bottle them up so I have them forever. I would especially like to pull these times out of my mind when the boys are being particularly rotten. It's so hard being a parent and dealing with adult stress and not throwing a temper tantrum yourself, to then have your 20 month old not only pulling all the cereals out of the cupboards but dumping them all over the floor too and then screaming when you pick him up to take him into the other room, while your 4 year old is in the other room screaming and crying because Thomas keeps falling off the track because he is trying to get 10 trains around the track at once. It is these times that I really need to pull out my bottles of joy so I can remind myself to stay calm, not yell, and remember there are sweet little things somewhere in there.

Happy Mother's Day

This was an email sent at my husband's school by his principal. I couldn't think of a better way to put it!

"Dear Staff,

This weekend is Mother's Day.  I'm convinced that this is one of those days that our viewpoint changes drastically depending on what stage of life we are in.  When we are little, we make our mothers homemade cards or pick dandelion bouquets and give them to our mothers, not realizing that the day is much more special to them than to us.  

When we are married with no children, but busy with life, we may call or even visit, send flowers or a card, but we certainly don't spend as much time with our mothers as we should on that day because it seems that we will have them forever.  When we are young mothers we look forward to Mother's Day and just love it, because we now have learned what our mothers always knew, that we are among those most blessed in the world.   We look at tiny babies or young children with such wonder and cannot believe how much we love them in our hearts.  And when are children are grown and our own mothers are no longer alive, we just hope that our children never become too busy for us on Mother's Day or never live so far away that we can't be with them.  

It's the circle of life.

I hope all of you in some way are able to cherish some small part of Mother's Day.  If you are still lucky enough to have your own Mother in your life, I hope you are able to enjoy a phone call, or a brunch with her.  If you are still lucky enough to have a small child or grandchild fall asleep on your chest with his/her small fingers wrapped in yours, then I hope you take that nap with them. And if you still have a child in your house, I leave you with the best advice ever given to me-- pull up a chair and watch your child sleep, no matter how old.   If your children are grown, I hope you get a phone call, a Mother's Day card or even enjoy a brunch or dinner out with them.

If you are a husband and a father, then certainly I hope you make the day special for your wife, because this day is not just a commercial day to sell cards, it is truly a chance for a mother to hear from others how special it is to be a mother, though she already know it every time she stares into the eyes of her child, no matter how old the child is.

Have a terrific Mother's Day weekend!"