I see the pieces of the play doctor kit scattered across the floor. The kit we have used all morning. My arms can almost feel the burn of the fifty million shots they have received.
I see the favorite books. The ones now covered with crayon markings and old stickers. The ones I can quote verbatim from reading so many times. The ones I later heard big sister “reading” to her brother.
I look down at my leggings and discover a small hole in the knee from so many games of chase, me always the lion.
The kitchen, filled with dirty dishes and spilled plates, it still lingers with the sounds of silly laughter and games.
The dirty laundry, piled like Everest, carries the stains and messes of adventure and discovery, of happiness–so much happiness.
It is nap time and I am much too exhausted to tackle any of this disaster at the moment. Instead I stare. I smile. Now my head begins to lift again, for I see how beautiful of a mess it is. How much we have accomplished this day.
We have learned. We have loved. We have lived. We have not drunk any more toilet water.
I’m right there with you mom! We try; we fail. But maybe sometimes our failures are not as big as we think. Maybe we are actually doing a pretty good job at this whole mom thing. Maybe, in the middle of all the chaos, there is something beautiful being formed in those little rascals.
Keep trying mom. I bet you are doing a much better job than you think.
