Mom Heart Moments #289

Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood.

MY CHILDREN ARE NATURALLY GIVEN to enjoying life, giggling, doing loud or outlandish things, and usually making messes along the way. As a mom who is busy and has an agenda, I am usually in a purposeful, intentional, “get my list done” sort of mode.

I remember one time when I came into the living room where my children were all lounging and talking and munching on snacks and giggling together after we had just returned home from a trip. It was really a lovely moment —and now going back to that memory, when they were all small enough to gather on one couch and laugh together, I would give a zillion dollars just to have them here doing such a thing again. But the house was all awry, and as I walked into the room, I was taking on my General Mom persona and putting aside Easygoing Mom and my sense of humor.

I ignored their contented togetherness and took on my best authoritative voice, listing all that would need to be accomplished —bags unpacked, clothes washed, house straightened, mail sorted, rooms cleaned, groceries bought . . . and that was just the beginning.

My oldest son looked up and said, “Mom, don’t worry. We will get it all done, and then it will just get messy again and we will get it all done again, but please lighten up a little and enjoy a few minutes of downtime. We just got home, and we are having fun for a few minutes! When you are happy, we are all happy, but when you get upset, we all start feeling guilty. So lighten up, and we promise we will help you get it all done.”

I took his advice. How I wish I had fretted less and laughed more!

Could you embrace this day’s messes, knowing that your happiness is key to your children’s happiness?