|
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Estee's Take: Being a Mom, One Day at a Time
Ah, Mother’s Day. It’s a glorious day, isn’t it? It’s the day where I get to sleep in ridiculously late while Brad makes his famous French toast. Then everyone piles into bed with me and we get maple syrup on the quilts. I love Mother’s Day. Considering all of the stuff that I have to deal with all year long, I definitely think I deserve a day of royalty and ice cream. I think that all moms out there can agree.
Being a mom means that I won’t get 5 minutes to myself until all of my kids move out. I can not move an inch without someone piping up, “Mom! What are you doing? Where are you going?” If I get really desperate, I escape to the bathroom to take a shower. I put in a Disney DVD, cage the little monsters in using a large number of baby gates and warn them that I will throw away the Dora fruit snacks if anyone moves an inch. If I turn the water up really high, I can almost pretend that I can’t hear the sound of Under The Sea coming from the living room. After 5 blissful minutes, I will hear footsteps and there will undoubtedly be 3 noses pushed up against the shower curtain. “What’cha doing mom?“ Sigh.
Being a mom means that I haven’t eaten a hot meal since 2003. I have been holding bottles, giving ridiculously small spoonfuls of baby food, cutting food into infinitesimally teensy pieces and watching my precious children chew for the past 5 years. As soon as one would be capable of managing mealtime on their own, there would be a new baby to fill in the gap. Even now, I am up and down throughout the whole meal. There are forks to pick up from under the table, napkins to retrieve, drinks to refill and helpings to replenish. If Breuklyn requests a second helping of macaroni and cheese, Maddux will wait until I sit back down before asking for more green beans. I should be burning calories with all of the running around, but the huge bowls of cookies and cream ice cream while watching Grey’s Anatomy are taking care of that.
Being a mom means that going on even a simple errand requires a lot of planning and a heaping dose of luck. I used to carry adorable little clutch purses that held lip glosses and credit cards. Now I have a huge over the shoulder bag that is bursting with diapers, diaper wipes, changes of clothing for the kids, stain remover stick thing, board books, snacks, cell phone, wallet, sippy cup, bottle of water and emergency flares. Ok, maybe not the emergency flares, but that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Once I get the dang thing packed, I have to haul it around. Instead of wearing cute Steve Madden shoes, I am lucky to find two matching flip flops. Flip flops are more conducive to running like a mad woman across the post office parking lot after the kids have scattered all of the bills that I was supposed to mail. It takes a lot of courage on errand day.
Being a mom means that I spend more time in one month cleaning that I have spent in my entire life. Last week, I went upstairs to get Paizlee out of her crib in the morning and I noticed that she was glistening. Glimmering. Shiny. She looked like Tinkerbell. Breuklyn was sitting on her bed, looking at the ceiling with a total, “I have done nothing wrong, I have been right here the whole time” look on her face. It was then that I noticed that the whole upstairs was glistening. Breuklyn had discovered the glitter that I had hidden in my scrapbooking stuff. She had managed to sprinkle 900 feet of hardwood floors with hot pink glitter. She rolled her stuffed animals around in it, for good measure. I will be cleaning up glitter until Breuklyn’s wedding day. In fact, I think I am going to save it for her wedding day.
That’s my take. What’s yours? What does being a mom mean to you, or to your mom? Leave a comment here and I will choose one winner who will receive the remaining unopened containers of glitter, since I am now terrified of them. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Products mentioned in this entry:
13-May-2008 @ 12:54:58pm
Being a mom is always putting my needs third - be it going to the bathroom, eating, brushing my teeth, etc. The only times moms get to put their needs first is when the Pilot announces "put the oxygen mask on you first." Every time I fly I smile at that part of the safety announcements. Permission to take care of yourself first. How often does a Mom hear that? Of course, we all know we'd probably ignore that permission should the plane actually start going down.
Don't send me the glitter - my darling daughter just used mine to make me a mother's day card (and she just used regular glue so now I've got glitter on the mantle as well LOL!)
13-May-2008 @ 1:07:06pm
Wow, that was hilarious and oh, so true.
Being a mom to me means endless giving and unconditional loving. We all have those days when we want to lock ourselves in the bathroom for some peace and quiet and go screaming into the streets for tension relief.
Also I can't believe how much work holidays are. They are now all about everyone else enjoying them and I try to have some fun the best I can even though I am usually exhausted.
Thanks Estee for the great reminders about how valued we are as Mom's!
13-May-2008 @ 1:28:07pm
This is an instant classic.
13-May-2008 @ 1:58:22pm
Sorry but I had to laugh about the glitter. It's normally me getting it all over the place. :LOL: Now with Stickles, it's much safer, less messier. :LOL: Still, I love loose glitter, well, bling of any kind!
Being a mother is a real balancing act! Trying to set a good example in ALL things while trying NOT to be a martyr. Once in a while I'm an example of what not to do or say. :p
I am not only their mother but teacher, cook, maid, laundress, handyperson, nurse/doctor, chauffeur, disciplinarian, finder of lost objects, locater of things not lost but they can't remember where it is, spell checker, dictionary and thesaurus, kisser of boo-boos, mean person with the money, the one who makes them dance with her, the one that makes them do the chores, the one that has the chocolate stash, and I'm sure I'm forgetting more stuff but I've no one to remind of those until they're needed right THEN!! LOL
13-May-2008 @ 1:59:23pm
I am also terrified of glitter! Unless, it comes already mixed in the glue that will dry clear like the Stickles! Ingenious product in my opinion. I have also found my oldest dd shiney as I like to call it when she smeared lanolin and aquaphor all over herself on 2 separate occasions. You have no idea how hard it is to keep absolutely EVERYTHING out of reach of a toddler. The lanolin was the HARDEST to get out since it is so thick. That stuff is worse than Crisco which I refuse to buy! One time I found her white when she smeared Destin all over her body and then powdered herself with baby powder!! It was like tar and feathers!!! I am sometimes embarrassed by the state of messiness of my house but then I remind myself that I'm too tired life is really just too short to clean ALL THE DANG TIME!!!! Ahhh children are a never ending adventure!
13-May-2008 @ 1:59:46pm
Omg, I had so much fun reading your blog, lol. Keep the glitter, the last thing I need is glitter all over the kids bedroom. It happened once, no more!
13-May-2008 @ 2:03:36pm
LOL To me, being a mom means that I have no privacy, that I will never sleep again, that all my shirts have holes, but my kids look good, that I have to eat...FAST.....that I am ALWAYS cleaning up something, that I can never do ANYTHING uninterrupted...like right now...LOL I could go on and on! But it also means that when my kids get boo boos..they want me, that I am the one who gets the most hugs and kisses (it's true!), that I am SOOO very loved by two very noisy, dirty, crazy boys :)
OH and I don't want the glitter either! LOL :)
13-May-2008 @ 2:31:32pm
Being a Mom means... worrying about how badly Jordan's legs hurt and if there's anything I can do for her today to take away more of her pain. Worrying more about Alexis than I ever thought was humanly possible. Especially since she was diagnosed bipolar. Being a Mom means being told you "don't know nothing" and trying to keep from arguing back "Uh huh I do too I got a 27 on my ACT... but then she doesn't know what that is! It means not sleeping for the first 6 months of Jordan's life because of her Apnea monitor would beep and I would worry that her oxygen would fall out of her nose. It means biting my tongue and not yelling at my husband when he's 'trying to help' with the kids. It means praying every day for the strenth to be what my family needs me to be. And it means scrapbooking it all so when I'm old and I've lost my memory from having 3 crazy kids and a spastic husband, I'll be able to look back at the scrapbook and say... I don't guess it was that bad after all. LOL
13-May-2008 @ 3:46:35pm
This is great Estee - I can just imagine your PRINCESS PALACE upstairs :) LOL!
13-May-2008 @ 4:49:55pm
Well all my children are grown now and I have a granddaughter. All of the above are so true! I can still remember the late nights, busy days, the time Buddy decorated the upstairs walls by sticking Kotex on the walls! It wasn't long after that both Buddy and his brother John decided to help me clean by washing their windows. They knew I used vinegar and water so they went into the bathroom and found "vinegar and water". I'm sure you ladies know what I mean LOL.
I can tell you that the worrying does not end when they move out. Not by a long shot!
And now that I have a 2-year old granddaughter that I'm helping to raise I get to do it all over again! And you know what? I wouldn't give it up for all the money in the world!
13-May-2008 @ 6:35:08pm
OH,, this is a great one!! and it's all true! My youngest is nine and I still don't get hot meals!! Probably because I spoiled my hubby and he's just a big baby too!
Being a mom means the sleepless nights don't stop when they move out,, you still worry when you know thay are out somewhere, or your grandson is sick and you call them at midnight to see what his temerature is. You still get up at 4:00 am when they call cause their daycare is closed and they forgot. And your always there with advice when they ask and sometimes when they don't but they need it!
Being a mom means hurting when they hurt, and wishing you could take away their pain, or go to school for them to face a bully.
Being a mom means,,, trying not to laugh at a 5 year old sliding around on a tile floor, unable to stand, because he dumped two jumbo bottles of bubbles on the kitchen floor, and trying to scold him for it, but totaly unable to because it was the best laugh you had in years,, and then spending an hour trying to clean all the bubbles up,, I didn't have to use soap for a month!.
Being a mom also means having your heart melt by a few little words from them,,, I love you.
Being a mom is the best and greatest job in the world, with benefits that only other moms can truely understand !
13-May-2008 @ 6:50:33pm
gasp... let me catch my breath! The glitter escapade is HYSTERICAL! The way I see it, you've got 2 options... either pretend you're all Pixie's for the next few weeks (pixie dust IS magical, you know) or Rock Stars - who we all know are sparkly. You can go to the grocery store with that "twinkle" and people will look at you and say, "Who is that woman - she just sparkles! Must be someone special..." Could be fun!! Hmmm... unless they mistake the sparkle for that "pregnant glow"...
13-May-2008 @ 7:16:31pm
Oh my gosh! And I bet Breuklyn thought she was helping decorate! ;) :hugs:
13-May-2008 @ 7:22:31pm
OK, that has completely ended any desire I had to run out & stock up on glitter. Never. Ever. You are a patient woman and obviously a selfless mama who deserves the royal treatment more than one day per year, but we all take what we can get, right?! They are only little once & I love listening to Trace Adkin's song "You're gonna miss this" whenever we're having one of "those" moments. Cuz we will miss it one day (far far far away). Another great blog Estee!
13-May-2008 @ 7:25:37pm
Oh Esteelynn you did it again...LMAO!!!! This is so true! My first three are three years apart literally. Oldest born Oct 12, 1985, the next March 31, 1987, and Liz born Oct 15, 1988. I've told this story before to a couple of friends on SB.com
One summer evening I had just given my older two a bath. Got them out and into fresh diapers. I was attending to my youngest who was about 3 to 6 months anyway...(been awhile) hehehe... Anyway....I could hear the boys saying Wee...Wee... It sounded innocent enough so I kept on attending to baby Liz...When I came out to the kitchen there were the boys covered head to toe in white!!?? I looked around and there on the kitchen floor were two large bottles of Baby powder!!! One completely emptied and the other almost emptied. It was in the air, covered the floor, the stove ,the counters, table and chairs, and my hutch. The boys had been sliding across the kitchen floor having the time of thier lives. It was hilarious. the boys had so much fun...Needles to say they went right back into the tub.
Being a Mom has the greatest scale of highs and lows. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done...ever will do. And when they have grown you tend to worry more...but it is so worth every minute of it. I only wish that I had taken pictures of the boys all covered in white.
13-May-2008 @ 7:29:51pm
LOL!!! Sounds like something my son would do!
In this house, being a mom means.... jumping puddles of apple juice in the kitchen, grabbing sippy cups off the TOP of 10 foot ladders, locking the refrigerator with a bungy cord, being pounced upon from the window sill in the living room, playing a game of hide and go seek with siggy cups, finding dinky cars in your bed, tripping over trikes in the dining room, cleaning up a line of ants who have found a stray piece of hidden apple from 2 days ago, sweeping up the trail of dried mud from the front door to the back door, showering with 2 boats, a plastic doll, 2 trucks and a block of wood, cleaning bathroom mirrors with toothpaste streaks all over them, retrieving large sticks from the back seat of the car, finding rocks in the dryer, going fishing for pennies in the fish tank, wiping faces dirtied with chocolate and crayola markers, scrubbing kitchen cabinets with pencil drawings on them, chasing after a little boy who has just grabbed your last adhesive runner, scraping glue dots off the floor and fish tank, remaking the bed for the third time because Daddy taught our son to pull back the covers to jump on the bed, picking up a pile of clean socks and diapers that had mysteriously been emptied from the change table drawer for the 40th time the same week, never being able to pee in peace but I would trade my "Mayhem Boy" for anything!
13-May-2008 @ 8:35:38pm
HAHA! I love reading your articles :o) You always hit the nail on the head with a touch of humor thrown in for good measure. I'd love to say being a mom for me today is all the things you said but as my children get older, they want less and less to do with me. Just once I'd love for my son to ask where I was going or what I was doing. I really miss those days. Now it's walking 10 feet ahead of me, sneaking away from his friends to ask for money, and looking at me like the mean dictator requiring chores be done and homework be completed. I've heard rumors that our children revert to adoring us like the Goddesses we are but that doesn't happen until their mid-twenties. Until then I will remember all the days of children under feet, 501 craft masterpieces decorating every surface of my house and doing 10 times as much laundry, even though their cloths are 1/10 the size of ours.
13-May-2008 @ 8:43:03pm
I'd be glad to take that glitter off your hands. My daughter is 16, so I get to eat hot food, take a shower in peace, use the toilet without an audience and tell her to cut her own food. The glitter would come in handy while doing late nite scrapping, while waiting for her to come home from wherever or not being able to sleep for worrying about what's going on in her life. It might take my mind off worrying about where she's at, what she's doing and who she's doing it with. Come to think of it I'd love to go back to not being able to shower in peace, use the toilet in private, and eat hot food, 'cuz at least then I was usually able to get a good nights sleep. I tell ya ladies it's a never ending cicle. My mom says it doesn't even end when your kids "grow up".
13-May-2008 @ 8:52:56pm
for my mom, she probably couldn't wait to get us out of the house. I'm sure we gave her a lot of stress and premature gray hairs. Let's just say, we were and are not angels. I know now though she loves us so much. There are always those unforgetable moments and funny quirky sayings that are so memorable. In spite of everything, I know she loves me with all of her heart. for my mom, it meant no quiet time alone, long nights of homework, constant reminders to practice instruments, thousands of spelling words and Bible verses, . . . it was never ending.
13-May-2008 @ 10:05:11pm
Oh, so true. And the bathroom is not even safe. My son stood outside the door yelling "I hear you in there mom, eating candy bars" as he heard the paper tear from the tampon!
Dani B
13-May-2008 @ 10:16:01pm
I'm not a mom, but to me, being a mom means loving your children enough to do what's best for them, in spite of maybe causing them hurt or distress. My mom took care of me when I was chronically ill throughout high school, she's been the best. I can't imagine having a better mom. And I can't wait until I can have kids of my own.
Beth
14-May-2008 @ 12:47:01am
Yes, YES YESSSSS! You pegged motherhood. I want to share that I got a warm meal this Mother's Day too; thanks to Drex, Merek, and Charlie. And then another warm one last night thanks to McKane and his wife (they weren't able to be with us on Sunday). It's wonderful to have sons who are grown men now--being groomed to even further greatness by wives (and one who has an awesome girlfriend). Cha ching!!!
I thought my jumping up to get the salt, pepper, A-1, more water, etc. routine would end when they left home...but it hasn't. I'm an entabler. I know I'll be back to cold meals for another year of Sundays out of habit (mine and theirs) and because I just love the precious bunch 'em. I, like the rest of you, also do it because we will end up doing it anyway since someone invariably gets up to help and asks us where the stuff is--and we come to their aid...WE"RE ALL JUST SO GOOD AT THIS JOB!!.
OH HOW I HATE GLITTER!!!! I have a story that's too long for here, but I'll just say, shag carpet and glue. Thanks for the “real” you share, Estee. This is an all-time treasure!
Jill Davis, Founder
P.S. McKane, please think about getting an "Add To My Favorites" feature in the blogs.
14-May-2008 @ 6:24:01am
I had a wonderful Mother's Day and even posted about my day on my blog in MyPlace. I have six children ages 18 to 3 so I have lots of memories similar to your glitter episode. A more recent one involved that horrible invention FLOAM! Anyhoo, I just wish I had captured pictures of all of the moments. Sure does make for awesome LOs ;)
14-May-2008 @ 6:36:11am
Oh boy Estee...you live such an exciting live!!! I'm telling you that you will miss it some day!!!
Being a mom Never ends...I know that you younger mothers don't want to hear it but it's true..and I am here to prove it! I am 52 years old and a grandmother and I have my youngest daughter and her child living in my house and now have my middle son (27) is now living with me!!
When your children run into hard times you will have to be there to pick up the pieces because what else can you do?? That is what you have always done and it's not going to stop just because they reach some magical age. Some day my husband and I will have a house to ourselves but until then we will savor the time we get to spend with our grandson and know that we were there for our children. Until then, we just take weekends or Saturdays away with each other...escapping our own house just to have peace and quite!! But that is our live now and we wouldnt want it any diferent (for now)!!!!
14-May-2008 @ 8:27:00am
Being a mom is simply the best job in the entire universe...
14-May-2008 @ 7:09:01pm
My take is to hold on to all these because they will be grown before you know ;)
14-May-2008 @ 7:44:06pm
Being a mom USED to mean always being elbow-deep in tissues, diapers, and dirty laundry. Being a mom USED to mean being fast enough to watch three Little League baseball games all going on at once, so each of my boys would hear me cheering them on. Being a mom USED to mean listening to my kids yell at me I "don't no nuthin'", because I'm just a girl.
Being a mom now means hearing my guys tell their buddies when getting ready for some backyard football, "Mom's on our team....you'll be sorry". Being a mom now means listening to seemingly endless rants about girlfriends, and how females never make any sense..."well, OTHER females, Mom"! Being a mom now means telling the boys, "bring the baby over, since you can't seem to get him/her to stop crying, and I'll give you a break"...oddly enough, said crying infant inevitably stops the crying as soon as Mammaw takes over, lol! Being a mom now means watching my sons, no longer little boys, but grown men, and feeling so very proud of them. Being a mom now means crying at the drop of a hat, because it suddenly hits me square in the chest for the millionth time that my baby is in Iraq, and he has already planned his own funeral...at age 21. Being a mom means I am not perfect, but I do the best I can to support my sons, help them through tough times, and to always be the pillar of strength they need me to be at times, even when I feel ready to fall to pieces myself at times. Most importantly, being a mom means making sure that my boys always know, every single day, that I love them.
15-May-2008 @ 6:02:36pm
I'm right there with Jane! Once a mom, always a mom. Funny, how much your children need you when they are young, but when they are grown and you think they can handle life on their own, you will find there are times that they need you more than when they were little. Being a mom means, "unconditional love", for all of eternity!
16-May-2008 @ 6:19:44am
Love your blog Estee.. and oh I think the pixie story would be just great!!! and I am SURE you will have glitter around until you marry her off! oh my, yes, you can keep your glitter, been there done that.....Well, I truly think being a mom is unconditional love, forgiveness, having lots of patience for life and praying lots, and hoping that they have children of their own "just like them if not worse" so they fully understand where you were coming from! LOL.... Well, not to say that my kids don't or haven't done their share, but I must say my poor parents! we certainly did our share as children. I can remember burning mom's hard plastic teal and orange dishes in the boiler while playing resturant one night, well, mom actually burnt them we just happen to leave them there the night before, while they were out bowling.... My brother set the pan on the stove on fire by placing water into boiling hot grease to "see what it did", man did we find out (good thing mom and dad were bowling)... good thing I was a girlscout and we had a BIG bag of flour, thought we got away with it until mom started questioning where all the spots on the ceiling came from? I have under great creativity repaired mom's favorite very tall catus with many straight pins.... it was good for about a week, until the top started dying and the bottom continued to live, which mom thought was odd... needless to say she discovered it had been "repaired".. mom still admits she thought that was creative on my part!! :O} I have been tied to the sewing machine and tickled until I peed my pants by my lovely 2 brothers, we have had many stretchy headband fights (I believe that is how we broke the catus), slapping fights were we would hit each other than run to our rooms where we would slam the door and stand on the other side... praying the other coulnd't get the door pushed open... did I mentioned my parents bowled once a week... LOL.... yes.. and to think these are only a few of the things they found out about!!! LOL... God bless them! Geeze.. I need to watch my kids more closely and probably why I don't bowl in a league!
17-May-2008 @ 7:21:51am
ROFL. Estee, I know everything you say is true and I just love how you use humor to cope & to share! I think being a mom is all of things everyone's already listed here but I'm with Photoscrappin - you NEVER stop being a mom!!! I, also, have my daughter & two grandson's living with me. I care for my widowed mother and help my husband with his elderly parents. I think being a mother means finding your true self. Being stronger and more capable of handling ANY situation, than you ever thought you could be.
19-May-2008 @ 9:27:29am
Well, I am still cleaning up glitter. Not surprising. Thanks to my dear friend Lynn, I have moved on to a lint roller thing to get the glitter off of my pretty, glittery hard wood floors. Fun times. Thanks so much for all of the replies! I loved your fun stories and I definitely agree that being a mom is the greatest job ever. The hugs and kisses make it all worth it. I can't get mad at my shimmery little monsters. :)
NMlady - you are our winner for this week. The glitter is all yours!! Please PM me with your address and I will get it out in the mail. :)
|
|
|
