Today was busy, full, good. We had Blast Ball early this morning. Larry came in a separate vehicle & took Andrew to a birthday party at the lake afterward. The others & I came home for lunch & snacks, and then layed down for naps. When Larry got home from the party, he went to my dad's house & they fixed something on his truck. When he got home, we set about replacing the brick walkway that the plumbers had to tear up this week to dig the trenches for the drain lines. (I have pictures of the work they did & the result of Larry & Andrew's hard work today to fix it!) Larry & Andrew ended up spending several hours putting the bricks & pavers back down & decided to be creative with it...it looks so neat! The other kids played outside & rode their bikes while the sidewalk work was being done. I, on the other hand, am more of an indoor, air-conditioning sort of gal, so I stayed inside & got the kitchen table & bar completely cleaned off. Trust me...it was truely a couple of hours-long job. (Ugh...now you all know my secrets! LOL!) Once that was done, I sat down with the calendar & planned all of our daily events for the kids & I.
We will spend each Monday at home, cleaning up after our lazy weekends, and just playing here. Tuesdays will be the day to go to a park. We have tons of neat parks in Tyler/Whitehouse, so we will be visiting many! Wednesdays will be our "field trip" days. We'll go to the zoo, museums, play putt-putt and that sort of thing. Thursdays will be spent at home, playing games from a COOL book I got recently called "Hey Mom! I'm Bored!". It's a book of 100 games/activities for kids of all ages & they have some really NEAT ideas in the book! Fridays will be spent doing crafty things or going to eat lunch w/ Larry at the church...or picnics with Grandma....something like that. Now I'm actually looking forward to the summer because I've got it all planned out!
Tonight I went to Target & picked out 2 new outfits for myself for church/evening out wear. I went ahead & bought a pair of earrings to go with both outfits and a necklace to go with one. It's nice to get to buy something for me now & then, but boy did I feel weird paying that much for 2 outfits when I could've bought a bunch of groceries or a ton of thingsfor the kids at garage sales/thrift shops. Oh well, I guess we mommies need to remind ourselves to take care of ME now & then.
On that note, I will make an awkward transition into the following. LOL! I got this in an email today & I must tell you, this is the most romantic thing! How precious that this man wrote it about his wife. Guys out there, write these sorts of words to your sweetie & you'll win major brownie points. Honestly, though...I pray that these are the kind of things said about me when I'm gone.
My Childrens' Mother, My Wife
I know that my wife firmly believes that my day is spent thinking about better ways to send data between to programs, but the reality is I think of her most of the time. Of course some of those thoughts lead me to blush but most of my thoughts about her are the kind that leave me in awe.
She claims that she is not unique among women, but I find that hard to believe. She chooses to be different. It isn't what she has that makes her so special, but what she chooses to do with what she has that sets her apart. She chooses to serve.
My wife is a stay-at-home mom. That does not make her better than working moms. It does make her different. I work at an office, in a cubicle, surrounded by people. I get distracted and energized by the commotions and chit-chat of the people around me. Some days it is draining, maybe tedious and often stressful. But it is a job.
Being a mom is her life.
She experiences more of the stresses without the interaction. She runs a restaurant, a taxi service, a hotel, a daycare, a classroom and a maid service. This is her normal day. I think about better ways to send data. And I think about her.
She gets depressed when she sees the super-moms. "How can they handle ten children, home school, smile at everybody and seem so energetic?" I have never met a more super-mom than my wife. She doesn't have ten children or home school or smile at everybody or seem so energetic. She quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, teaches our children about love, faithfulness, sacrifice, commitment and dedication. She lives out the cost of discipleship. Our children will not grow up believing that the world is happy and people always smile. They will grow up knowing that it's okay to cry. That the people who love them get tired and frustrated and lose their tempers, and they are still loved. They learn that parents apologize.
Being a mom can be very depressing. It drains all your energy. It thins out your emotions. And sometimes it even hurts. Children are not always nice to each other and sometimes they are not nice to the mom who has given up everything for them. She is like our house's foundation. The whole house depends on her and she gets walked on a lot.
I have barely scratched the surface of who she is and what she does. There has never been a job more valuable with so little appreciation, so little immediate reward. Yes, the children do say thanks once in a while. They do write "I love you" on their Mother's Day cards. And their hugs and kisses are very precious. But the reality is that she gives far more than she will ever receive.
Someday I would like to kick the winning field goal in the Super Bowl, or hit the winning run in the World Series. But neither of those could ever bring me the honor I get by walking next to my children's mother.
Copyright 2001 Dave Loomis.
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