Memories

April 2, 2013

Four years ago at this time, I was in my eighth month of pregnancy with my sixth child.   I had done the math, and out of the previous 120 months, I had been either pregnant or breastfeeding (or both at the same time) for 110 of those months.  Somewhere amidst the prenatal check ups and pediatrician visits, potty training and preschool, stretch marks and sippy cups, ER visits and ear drops, hemorrhoids and hormones, I lost myself.  “ME” had become “WE”.  I can tell you the birth dates, times, weights and lengths of each of my children, but I couldn’t begin to tell you the last time I tweezed my eyebrows. 

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely thankful for the many, wonderful, noisy, messy blessings that filled my days and my long sleepless nights.  God had certainly answered the cry of my heart when during infertility treatments years earlier, I had begged him to let me be a mother.  He promised me in Psalms 113:9 that "He will make the barren woman happy in her home with many children."  He had come through with the "many children" part, but we were still working on the "happy in her home" part.

As I approached the end of my very last pregnancy, I would often relish a good, long soak in a warm bubble bath.  One day, my then-three year old son walked in the bathroom as I was coming up out of the water from rinsing my hair.  His eyes lit up as he made a relevant observation:  “Mom, you look JUST LIKE Moto Moto!”  (Have you seen Madagascar 2?  Moto Moto is the hunky, plumpy, “big and chunky” male hippo…).  I guess when you’re three years old, you call it like you see it.  

 

It wasn't very funny at the time, but it is now.  I have learned to find such joy in the simple thinking of my children.  Kids are brutally honest, wildly creative, and hysterically funny.  I don't want to ever forget these precious words of my children.  

I wished I had been better at keeping a journal of my kids' funny quips.  As time ticks on, I've found it to be true that these priceless memories fade away. My mind becomes so full of to-do lists, to-buy lists, to-clean lists, to-call lists... and those hysterical one-liners get lost in the shuffle. 

So, to all you young moms out there, let me encourage you to begin recording your little comic's famous lines.  It would be especially beneficial to go back and re-read what you've written when you have had one of those days and you’re convinced (like me) that you’re raising the next mass murderer!  As you laugh and maybe even cry, you’ll be reminded that your children truly are precious, and that they are growing up so fast!  

Fast-forward four years since I did my best Moto-Moto impression.  Truthfully, not much has changed.  My body is still bearing the "scars" of being a carrier pigeon to six little clones of Jeremy.  My mind is fried, my hair has gone grey, my house is a mess, and I'm not even sure if I fed my kids breakfast.  Nevertheless, joy is mine as I thank God for these many years of laughter that my children have given me. 

I am a MOM.  A Mother-Of-Many.  Sometimes I'm the meanest mommy. Sometime's I'm a silly mommy.  I'm certainly not the skinniest or most fashionable mommy.  I'm a personal chef, a chauffeur, a referee, a picker-upper-of-other-people's-crap, and a three-ring-circus master.  And I'm blessed.

Oh, and one more nugget of wisdom that I'll never forget...and maybe it's really more of a warning: "You’ll break your mama’s back if you step on her crack.”

  

I pray you find joy in the little things today!

Love,

Katie