Reflecting On My Day

At the end of a busy day

it's still Monday?, I ask myself as I notice I already devoured the Toblerone deliciousness that I bought to last me all week

I love to sit down and think about the things accomplished, goals met, to-do's I was able to cross off, lessons learned, make a new mental list of to-do's, chastise myself for what I did NOT do, resolve to do better, and record a few lines of it all in my journal if I'm not too tired.

Mama bear & cubs                                     {June 2013}

Today started about 8:30 with the boys running in together requesting their oatmeal breakfast. I encouraged them to take advantage of the last two bananas while I took a few minutes to push the grog out of my brain and then we were up and running (anyone who knows me, knows I am not a morning person and do not do well with jumping out of bed as soon as I wake up).

We did breakfast, bricks, coloring, clothes, soap, teeth, towels, pbs kids, scanning the bunny ears for a non-pixelated version for pbs kids, laundry in, laundry out, clean clothes picked out of the clean laundry piles (you would not believe the mountain of clean laundry on our guest bed right this very moment), sent some emails, made a call or two, cleaned up from breakfast, printed a shopping list/weekly schedule, sent a text, put someone in time out, hopped in the shower (behind schedule, as usual), found word world on hulu, cut up some apples, discussed changing the world with a friend, got the princess up & fed & dressed, everyone out the door (finally!) to run some errands (my friend too!), first stop, second stop, back home, unloading, ice cream sandwiches melting, discussing dinosaurs, kids play outside, honkity honk honk their horns, Miss N down for nap, neighbor comes over & asks my kids names (more than 5x during her visit), my friend hugs & leaves, get the mail, instagram a photo of J with his first birthday card for his big 5, back inside to whip up a dinner (plus a box to share), kid play in mud, I play in creamy enchiladas, kids in the tub after muddy play, I label all the dishes & wake up the sleeping babe, shoes back on, out the door, delivery & chat with a new friend, stop at a lake for photos to turn in for a class, realize I left my memory card in my Mac, really!? decide to just stay & let kids play at the park, listen to amusing conversations between Mr. J and the rest, watch Miss N's glee as she climbs all by herself, take note of Mr. N's resilience and defensive stance, meet a fellow park family, share cookies & milestones, load 'em up again, home, unload, back in the tub, drinks, teeth, stories, scriptures, prayers, cuddles, pillows, hugs, lights out, laundry movin', dishes washin', de-humidifier hummin'...the motion slows and it's just me and my thoughts.

I tried to form a picture of what I was feeling (to share on the ultimate feeling-sharing place in all of the world--facebook, of course --*rolls eyes at self*) and this is what I ended up with :

"From the first awakening squeaks to the last nighttime pleas for 'just one more minute'--a mother's roller-coaster style work is full of happy, heartwarming ups and mundane, messy downs. (And those words don't even begin to truly capture it) Every day we get on, buckle up, and ride again--convinced that the brilliant views we enjoy at the tops of the ups far outweigh the shaking, loud, rumbling chaos of the lows. 



When my house is still and quiet (laundry rumbling, dishwasher swirling, house put back together again), I step off the roller coaster and I review my day's journey from a much calmer vantage point. The fantastic ups feel brighter and the frantic downs seem less dramatic; in those memory catching moments, my heart swells with gratitude for the chance to ride along."

Mama moments. Shoes on.                         {June 2013}