My daughter burps on me. And licks me. And coughs in my face. And then brother copies her because it's too fun not to but he ups the ante this time around, spitting water. So I clean that mess up, taking a deep breath and counting to ten. Why isn't coffee made?? They need their noses wiped, their bottoms wiped and want mommy to feed them (really?? You're five!). My kids sneeze on me, drink from my cup and leave backwash and want to be held...all. the. time. They fight over who mommy will carry up the stairs this time around. Umm...how about neither of you? Pretty sure those sprightly little legs worked this afternoon when you ran from me!
Food prep. Meal cleanup. Sweeping. One wants pancakes, the other cheese and crackers and a Ring Pop. For breakfast. This is a battle I won't win so two meals I make (this time though no Ring Pop. Yet.) I am two steps ahead of my kiddos at all times and cannot leave them alone for more than a few minutes because their wheels are already turning. I have no mental rest because three seconds before they spill, I am reaching for a towel. Then wiping the table, chairs, them. It's a constant job, being a mommy. There is no end to the hamster wheel and nothing too gross or messy to stop my kids. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Puddles are just begging to be jumped in, drips of jelly await little fingers to smear them all over the counter. Large boogies retrieved from their noses dangle on their small fingertips waiting for a tissue. Always on car rides for some reason, while I fumble around trying to find a crumpled Starbucks napkin, something to contain the boogie. At least it didn't end up on their shirt or car seat. This time. And during cold season? Which feels more like a lifetime than a season! Forget about it!
Bath time is a whole job in itself. The running of water, reasoning with my kids to please not splash all over me and the pages of my book I try in vain to read. Then there's the hair combing, the lotioning up and the jammying. Snack, brush teeth (open your mouth! Don't spit on the mirror!) And finally? Bedtime. But not before book reading, a little snuggling, a thousand questions and requests for water, for going potty, for (another) snack. And finally, bed. Just to do it all over again tomorrow. Tired and weary and off to bed I go but not before sneaking one last kiss on my sweet angels, slumbering in their snug little beds. A quick kiss and a thought "God, they are perfect. Please protect them."
All in a day's work.
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