Perserverance

A friend of mine once described her mental state while running a marathon. You hit a wall and you have to keep going, she said. I often think about that state of mind in my every day life. I go, go, go, cleaning and picking up in the morning. I help the boys get ready for school, make sure they clean up after themselves, make their lunch, have prayer, send them out the door, empty the dishwasher, switch laundry, fold and put away laundry, pick up around the house, clear off hot spots (and sometimes get lost in doing it for some time), make Ammon breakfast, play with Ammon, feed and take care of my sweet baby Clara and the list goes on. I had a thought today. If someone asks me to help with something, I can simply say I have a full-time job. That full-time job is taking care of 4 children. IT IS A FULLTIME Job for me. Taking care of the home, shopping, cleaning, etc are all IN ADDITION to taking care of my children and their basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs. If I lived 100 years ago and were rich, I would hire someone to do the cleaning, cooking, laundry and I would just be a nanny and governess to my children, HAHA.

Today, I had a headache. I'm pretty sure I had a headache because I didn't take the time to eat enough of the right foods. I made myself some scrambled eggs, but I also had a brownie from last night and M&Ms scattered throughout the morning until I left to do some shopping. 4 hours later when I arrived home, I had a car full of food to put away, 2 hungry and tired babies, I was VERY hungry, 10 minutes before my other 2 kids would be home from school, I had a headache, a dishwasher full of clean dishes, a sink and countertop full of dirty dishes, laundry in the washer, dryer, on the couch and in the living room in a basket. Disclaimer: Not every day is like this and it wasn't my best day for time management and preparedness. But not every day can be perfect and sometimes things just need to get done, like taking my jogging stroller to get the wheel fixed (so I can get OUT of the house and exercise) and doing some overdue grocery shopping.

So every day, if I don't make myself sit down and take rest breaks, physical and mental breaks, I inevitably hit a wall. Often times, it is when 2 of my kids are about to be home from school and dinner and evening duties need to begin. I don't have time to hit a wall! So like my friend running a marathon, I find myself running a daily marathon of motherhood and I have to push through those walls and keep going until after the kids are in bed. I guess that is my finish line each day...until the baby wakes up around midnight *smile*.