Starting Another Day At Home With My Kids

The house is quiet and I’m up sipping my first cup of coffee of the day. In a few minutes my kids will start to wake up one by one, and we’ll hit the ground running.

Someone will want milk, another will want me to help him find a lost toy. One will want to watch Mickey Mouse, and the baby will need a bottle. Then they’ll all get hungry at the same time and it’ll be a race to see what I can throw on their plates the fastest. Breakfast will finish up with sticky fingers that need wiping and a floor that’s buried in chunks of food that were either dropped or thrown by little fingers. The dishwasher will need unloading before I can reload it, and about halfway through I’ll have to stop to break up a fight over who should get to use the yellow crayon.

Simultaneously the baby will get tired and need me to put him down for his morning nap. I’ll run him upstairs to his room and will likely come back to my entire tupperware cupboard torn apart by my girls who want to make food for their dolls. And there will be a trail of little cars from the living room to the kitchen, because my son wants to take his cars on a “vacation.” Just as he has the last one perfectly placed in line, one of the sisters will run through the middle, disrupting every bit of order he had created, and the second fight of the day will ensue.

That will probably be the first time today when I feel like this is all just a little too much. I’ll feel overwhelmed thinking that it’s only 9:00am and I have the whole day ahead of me.

Then I’ll get down on myself for feeling overwhelmed, because after all, these are MY kids, and I shouldn’t make them to be a burden. They are indeed a blessing. I’ll try to remember that these days pass by so quickly and that I need to make the most of them. I’ll try to take a deep breath and try harder. I’ll try to have more patience. I’ll try to use a calm voice and a sweet spirit. I’ll try to choose and show unconditional love instead of frustration.

I’ll try to be the perfect mom that I picture in my mind. The mom that I’m sure the mom next door is being. The mom who has it all figured out. The mom whose house is always clean and organized, and who doesn’t have to resort to mismatched socks because the laundry is piled high. The mom who is the modern day Mrs. Cleaver, with her perfect body, perfect house, and perfect husband.

Then I’ll pass by the mirror and see myself in yoga pants, messy hair, a few extra pounds of baby weight, and unbrushed teeth. I’ll see toys scattered on the floor behind me, and I’ll feel like that perfect reality is the farthest thing from possible.

Then I hope I’ll remember that I’m enough just the way I am. I hope I’ll remember that I was given to my kids for a reason. That they need ME. They don’t need me to have it all together. They don’t need me to have every piece of clothing perfectly folded in their drawers. They don’t need every muscle in my body to be perfectly toned, (although I WILL keep working toward it). The truth is, they don’t see my imperfections the way I do. They simply see me as the person in their life who has so much love to give them. They NEED that love. They need me to get down on the floor with them and play even though I see a million other things to do. They need me to hold them when they’re crabby, to reassure them that I love them no matter what they’re going through. They need me to soak up these messy, crazy, chaotic years in all their glory. They need me to remember that my best is always enough, because when I believe in myself, I can be the mom my heart wants to be.

P.S. For more reflections on parenthood and life, follow us on Facebook (Hun Let’s Run) and on Instagram: @ambermariekuiper and @jakekuiper! We’d also love for you to subscribe to our Hun, Let’s Run Podcast! For more info about joining our fitness community as a customer or coach, please email us at amber@mommysmetime.com!