Ok....so I "borrowed" this title from a book I am currently reading. In my defense, it is the only thing that sums up the way I feel about life in general...particularly my marriage and our endeavor in parenthood together. You see, I wasn't always a stay-at-home mommy. I worked in the banking industry for 14 years prior to our fourth child being born and, consequently, me choosing to stay home with our babies.
I was so thrilled to finally be able to obtain my dream job (24/7 mommy), that I made a conscious decision to make every day with my babies count. I made a decision that if we were at home and one of them said, "Mommy, let's play!" I would never look at them and say, "Sorry...mommy's too busy." Now, they may have to wait a few minutes so that I can finish up something I am in the middle of doing...but, if they want to play then we play. And, if it's absolutely something that must be done, then I let them help me. And, we make it fun.
As a result, my house is "well lived in". There are typically dishes waiting for me after the kids go to bed and toys in pretty much every room in the house. But, everytime I become overwhelmed by this sight, I remember how blessed I am to have little people around to make this mess. I also know that there will come a day when I will miss them desperately and will think about how quickly the time passed.
And, so brings another conscious decision now that I have been home with them for a year...I will be sure to thoroughly enjoy each day...not just coasting through it. I will pay attention to details and photograph them with my mind.. I will smile everytime I hear my husband leave me a voicemail and how after almost 8 years and 4 babies, he aways starts his message with, "Hey, gorgeous...". I will keep a memory of Madison asking me to give her my "extra special Mama back scratch" at bed time. I will remember how when I tell David how proud I am of him, his precious little nose wrinkles up as he smiles and beams with pride himself. I will remember how our curly-haired Livvy can go from sweet to furious and back again within seconds...and look adorable the entire time. And, I will capture the feeling of slow dancing with Sammy every single night before I set him in his crib...and the moment when he lays his sweet head on my shoulder and puts his fat little arm around me.
As at-home parents (mommy's or daddy's) it can be easy to be sucked into such a routine that we forget to stop sometimes and just enjoy our babies and our spouses. There are so many terrible things in the news everyday and I am positive that most involved in those stories would give anything for a typical day...one with a list of errands a mile long, breaking up arguments amongst their kids and maybe just sitting with their spouse after a long day and talking.
I can say from personal experience that if you choose joy long enough, eventually it just becomes who you are...someone who enjoys the Gift of an Ordinary Day.
