Aww…don’t we look so cute??
What this picture doesn’t capture is the fact my coat is covered in my baby’s poo. That’s right, we’re smiling thru the poop. This was a trip to Temple Square a couple years ago and it was crowded. Perfect time for a diaper to NOT do it’s job.
Sometimes I think that’s what life is all about.
Smiling thru the poop.
Let me explain.
Growing up I don’t remember seeing my dad a ton. He wasn’t a dead beat, in fact, he was the opposite. He was doing all he could to make sure my mom could be home with the kids. Trust me, we needed constant adult supervision. And by “we” I mean my older brothers. Okay, really just one but that’s another story. So while my dad was off working 2, sometimes 3 jobs and/or getting another degree to help up his pay my mom was holding down the fort and probably praying it would still be standing by bedtime.
To me it all looked so easy. My dad must have loved his job(s) and surely my mom loved cooking and cleaning and keeping the kids alive. My favorite was when dad had time off. He always made the best of it. He’s nomadic and must travel so that’s what we did. We’d pile up in our big brown Suburban, pray that it would get us to our destination and take off. These ended up being the finest memories of my childhood. Again, we had so much fun that my parents must have been having a blast right along with us, right?
Well. Fast forward to my adulthood and parenthood…Wait…this isn’t 24/7 fun. I don’t love cooking and cleaning all day and my husband certainly isn’t in love with his job. And those family trips?? Holy crap, they are hard and exhausting to do! We need a vacation just to recover! I remember asking my mom how they did all those trips with all the planning, packing and yet they seemed to have just as much fun as we did. Her response? “It was exhausting and I often wondered if I would survive it.” Awesome.
I always envisioned family home evening would go like this:
When really it’s more like this:
But we are gluttons for punishment and we keep trying anyway.
Parenthood just isn’t all about rainbows and butterflies. In fact, it’s mostly dealing with poop. And I don’t just mean diapers and wiping little bums. That also includes, helping with homework, getting them to do chores, time outs, fighting…..the list goes on. This isn’t work for the weak. Or the easily queasy.
I always thought I’d never leave the house unless my kids were clean, hair done and always looking cute. Usually they just look like this:
I thought I’d always be on top of things, house, homework, bills but somehow this seems to be as good as it gets:
So my point is…what is my point..oh yeah, my point is that while this is the most rewarding work on the planet (or so I’m told), most of it is mundane, hard and I’ll even go so far as to say boring. And its dealing with a lot of poop. The trick is to find the happy, joyful moments amid all the poop. It could be a baby’s laugh when you’re playing peek-a-boo for the 475th time or an older child making a witty joke when the two of you are fighting. It’s a husband recognizing you need a moment and putting you in a time out with a Diet Coke and the remote to the TV.
On the fateful poopy night, it was being with my family on a beautiful winter’s night at one of my favorite places. In that moment, it was a sweet picture with the man I love and who joins me in this crazy journey called “Family”.
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