| Saving Private Allen |
As a mechanic for four years of my life in the United States Army, I woke up at 4:30am each morning and readied myself for work, ran at least 2 miles and periodically conducted field exercises sleeping in the element. It was a good life. I was challenged and was pushed to my personal limits�so I thought. I had children three years ago and found a new definition for pushing personal limits! I found choosing to be a stay- at- home mom had more trials and obstacles and the demands were much more rigorous than I ever faced marching mile after mile with a forty pound ruck on my back. I have often wondered if I was unique in finding being a mother virtually impossible. I thought I had missed out on some sort of gene that was placed in mothers that look and act like June Clever. I could not for the life of me figure out why some mothers weighed LESS after giving birth when I weighed more than my highest pregnancy weight a year later. What happened to the snapshots of a child being read to while they drift off to sleep? RIGHT! I thought the spaghetti all over the face was supposed to be a Kodak moment, until I was the one stripping the kids down at the table and transferring them straight to the bathtub every night. Well I have been not so gently awakened from the dream and realized that we are all in the same boat. I know there are a few of you out there that were naturally born with the June Clever gene. Your dream as a little girl was to be a mother, housewife and friend to all. More power to ya sista! I am not that person. I am here to talk to all of you that wake up each morning and the only thing on your mind is to get back to bed as soon as possible! You are unappreciated, you are unmotivated, and you are unhealthy. Lets get to the bottom of all this. You need to be inspired. You need a reason to put your foot out of that bed each day other than to change diapers and clean up the crayon that has just been ran across the rented walls of your home. As a stay-at-home mother of two beautiful children under three years old, I often find myself wanting more than gum in the hair and finding an occasional lima bean up the nose. I have said �no� so many times, my poor children will tilt her head with surprise and give me a look as if saying �really?� when I do say yes. I feel the guilt of wanting more but knowing that I should be happy with what God has blessed me with. I have worked since I was twelve years old mowing lawns and cleaning houses. The decision to stay home for the first time threw me into an emotional and physical hurricane. The wind dies down for awhile just to find out that you are in the eye of the storm and there were more walls to face. The first walls are the sly comments of those that either work outside the home or do not have kids. Do you recognize the �just couldn�t cut it in the workplace, huh?� face or the implications that we as stay-at-home moms sit around and eat peanut butter off the spoon and watch Bold and the Beautiful all day. The comment� �It must be nice, I would love have a life like THAT!� hits you right below the belt. The next wall comes crashing down twice as hard when your husband comes in right when you are cleaning the house for the forth time that day because the entire box of Rice Crispies was dumped on the living room floor...again. Your two year old had her third accident that day while you were potty training and your ten month old has not stopped crying since after his morning nap. Your worn out husband walks in after his hard day and says �What is that smell?� Of course your defense is up right away as you explain that the hamburger casserole must be burnt because you were tending to �his� children. You of course did not get to pick up all the Rice Crispies, the laundry is still on the couch needing to be folded and the dishes used making the casserole are still sitting on the counter. Can you guess ladies what comes next? He unknowing delivers the final blow when he says �and just what did you do all day?� To put a little salt on the wound, he drops his belongings down on the nearest counter for you to tidy up later and settles down to find the number for Pizza Hut as you are dumping the blackened casserole in the trash. I will step down from my enormous soapbox now and leave you with some words of thought. They are mine so beware! All the external things we must face each day can be handled with effort and grace unless you are not handling things internally. Let�s be honest moms, we are challenged each day to inspire our children to be secure, to stimulate their little minds to be the mommy and daddies of the future. No matter what the trial is we face in our own life, we must put aside all the drama of the unconstructive thoughts that drive us to not see the absolute joy and privilege of being a homemaker no matter how long you have been doing it or what you have to sacrifice. If anyone has a place inside that is still longing to be fulfilled, then good. You should always strive to be better moms, better wives, better homemakers and better friends to those we love. That�s precisely what this journey that was placed before us is all about. Do not ever be satisfied where you are. Achieve greatness, and greatness just happens to be in the lives of those who are just learning to tie their shoes and curious about everything they see. Make it your goal to enlarge their border and yours by finding what treasures are hidden in the walls of motherhood. God Bless Laurie Copyright 2001 Kingskid |