Moms! Has this ever happened to you?

It is the end of the day, you just wrestled three kids into bed and you collapse on the couch in a heap. You feel drained of all energy and find you can't even hold your head up properly. You decided to let your heavy cheek fall into your hand in an effort to keep your noggin looking up. That is when you soon discover that your hands have the strange odor of soap and poop.

While a normal person would remove their hand in disgust you find you are too tired. Instead you start to ponder how a smell like that could even come to be? Wouldn't the soap wash away the poop? Is there poop somewhere else besides my hand you could be smelling?

I'm just saying, these are questions a Mom asks herself.

I'm Just Not Feelin' it

Let me preface this post by saying I am very grateful for my children and think life would be painfully boring if they were not around.

However, there are some days when I am just not feeling it. What I would give just to have one day where I could pull the covers over my head and stay in bed. I would love to have one day where I would pick up the house and everything would stay where I had put it. One day where I just wouldn't make lunch because I wasn't hungry and didn't feel like making lunch.

I imagine having a day like this, one day off. Then, the next day, when I saw my children again I would be refreshed and recovered and healed. I would be a better mother to them because I had one day off. Today I am longing for one of those days.

Even Superman had his Cryptonite

I have made an observation lately. When I get into my bed in the evening I am exhausted. I collapse into the comfort of my covers and easily fall into a deep sleep. Now, I remember when I was in High school or even college. I would go to sleep because it was time for bed and I was a bit tired. A far cry from barely able to move your extemities exhausted after you hit the sheets.

I have come to the conclusion that children suck the energy right out of you. They don't have to do much, juat merely have to be in your presence and they will channel all their energy right out of your body and into theirs. This is mostly done through the whining method. I find that whining for more than a minute is the most effective way render me exhausted. Whining is like my cryptonite. Just as Superman would, I begin to curl up into the fetal position on the floor and wince in pain when they break out the dreaded whining.

The second energy sucker is the asking for something multiple times. They use this method in the hopes that I will a.) eventually give in or b.) tune them out (as occasionally happens) and agree without fully knowing what I just agreed to. I am bound and determined to be consistant with them, so if I tell them no that is the way it is going to be. I use my consistancy as a sheild that I hold up whenever I feel a no coming up my throat and out of my mouth. It turns out, however, that my shield is weak and has may holes and will not protect me from losing my most valuable commodity, my energy.

Unfortunately, just because I recognize what is depleting me of my energy there is nothing I can do about it. If I am going to look on the bright side, I should be happy for now that I can fall asleep so easily. I imagine when they are teenagers whatever they are doing is going to be keeping me up all night.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I find myself wishing and counting down the years until all my kids are in school and I will have all the free time to pursue whatever avenue I choose.

Sometimes I just get tired of my spending my entire day making sure that everyone else's day runs smoothly.

Sometimes I wonder if cleaning my house is a HUGE waste because it will be trashed as soon as I turn my back.

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to spend so much time planning and making dinners that my children rarely eat.

Although, lately I have noticed how fast time is flying by. I recognize that I do not want to wish away these precious years with my kids. In the grand scheme of things 10 years is not a long time to set aside my goals in an effort to make their lives better.

I am thankful that I am allowed the opportunity to stay home for them and be sure that their day goes well. I am thankful that they can always count on me to be there to pack their lunch and pick them up from school if they are sick. I am there for them when they leave for school and I am there to pick them up. It is worth it to me to know that if everything else in their world is crashing down they will always know I will be there.

That is more valuable to me than any doubt that may cross my mind about my career. My time will come to follow my dreams and when it does I will be thankful for the chance I was given to stay home with them.