No one ever said parenthood was sunshine and lollipops, but they also forget to tell you how much laundry you will do and how many pairs of shoes you'll buy. Its been a busy week of keeping everyone in clean clothes, well fed, well groomed and on top of their homework. With four kids living at home and all of them in school I never have enough pencils or college ruled paper. I can only ever find wide ruled...I swear I bought extra college ruled last Fall. Kalani went to the dentist 3 times because once I forgot the space maintainer they needed to put back in, then the dentist forgot to take off a band and we still have to go back again next week for the new spacer to be put in. All of the boys got haircuts and Kian showed me the bottom of his red Chuck's and they have worn completely through on the bottom. Have you tried to follow the directions on a fifth grader's homework lately? The concepts they need to know are simple enough, but the directions do not always make sense. Most people would agree that I am pretty smart, so if I can't figure out what they are supposed to do...how is an eleven year old going to know? (My eleven year old happens to be a perfectionist and hard on himself, so when the two of us get stumped he gets very frustrated.)
It seems as soon as I solve one problem, like making sure everyone has socks for the next morning, another one pops up. Where's my iPod? Has anyone seen my folder? I need a cold lunch tomorrow because we have a field trip (actually I am hardly ever warned the night before about these things and I am forced to squeeze a trip to the store for lunch supplies into our morning routine). Do we have any Scotch tape? I need more lunch money. Do you have a black Sharpie, mom? The printer is out of ink and my report is due tomorrow. I think you get the picture :-) Parents perform small miracles everyday and sometimes we get frustrated or we're convinced we are not good enough. I doubt myself, my choices, but then I realize the only reason I do these things is because I want to do a good job...I care about doing my best. I take my frustration out on the bathtub. That's a win-win situation: I feel better and the tub is spotless. Then I take a long hot bath and watch Hulu on my Nook. Now I'm ready to try this parenting thing again. We have eye doctor appointments next week and more dentist appointments in two weeks, then check-ups with the pediatrician this Summer. I need to pick up tape, college ruled paper and triple A batteries tomorrow and this weekend Kian will need some new shoes.
My reward for all my hard work as the CEO, CFO and COO of this family is when my son gives me a hug and a kiss before school and says 'I love you.' My reward is when another son climbs into my bed in the morning with 30 minutes left before the alarm. My reward is when the other son brings up his grades in school with a little hard work. My reward is when I see someone has posted a video of my daughter singing and playing the ukulele. I wouldn't mind an Exxon size bonus, but that is not going to happen unless I win the lottery, so I take what I can get. What's your reward?
No comments:
Post a Comment