I am fully aware that I am a mother of two, soon to be three, but I am constantly asking myself, "Moms, how do you do it???" Totally rhetorical, of course, because I'm not a mom who enjoys reading "How To Mom" books or blog posts. But there are some days, usually the days when I've "had it up to here" with my 5-year-old and my 1-year-old is a clinging vine, that I genuinely wonder, "Moms, how do you do it..."
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my babies "big much" and being a mom is the GREATEST, most difficult, most humbling, most trying, most exhausting, most wonderful job in the whole wide world. I wouldn't trade my lot in life for all of the free trips around the world or, more realistically, extra sleep and peaceful moments. I didn't understand chaos until my second came along, so totally opposite of my first concerning her needs, and now I can't believe our life was so calm before number two. Having one kid was no cake walk all the time, but I just didn't understand how moms weren't able to get it all done. What do you mean you're not getting any sleep? My kid sleeps from 8 to 8 every single night and has since she was 7 weeks old. I feel great! She's just so EASY. She obeys, she's self-motivated - potty trained before 2 years, she's so social and interactive. My house is always picked up by the end of the day.
For me, balancing the needs and unique personality of one little person was just so easy.
Three and a half years after the birth of the first, came our second, and life has never been the same. My parenting methods, in some ways, have had to change with the second and even so with the first and consistency takes a whole heck of a lot more effort. My 5-year-old is still very independent and social and sweet, but having a younger, needier sibling has changed her a little. Not to mention the general 5-year-old stage of life - more independent, attitude for days, questions upon questions, pushing the boundaries - which pushes our parenting into new stages! All of this while trying to remember what we valued when raising our first 1-year-old...
My house is NEVER picked up by the end of the day (and we have a house helper who comes for two hours every evening!). My second has words like "candy" and "chips" in her vocabulary. My first has more screen time each day than I would like. My second rarely wears clothing and my first rarely wears clothing that matches. Neither wear bows anymore. And its not uncommon for one or both to be carrying around some sort of animal, pet or otherwise, the health and sanitation of which I have no idea.
When Chandler is in the bush for days at a time, I give a silent shout out to single moms and I pray for the single moms that I know.
When my girls are fighting over a baby doll, I give a silent shout out to moms of all girls or moms of all boys.
When I read on social media about a mom's day running the kids here and there, I give a shout out to moms in America.
When I read of moms caring for kids with foreign illnesses in a place with poor healthcare or moms helping their children navigate new cultures, I give a shout out to moms raising kids in a host culture.
Having dealt with a season of depression, I pray for the moms who are raising kids and wading through various struggles of their own.
To moms of older kids: shout out. I am terrified of the years to come, navigating life transitions alongside your kid. I laid awake in bed last night drafting my monologue for when my first starts her period for the first time. She's 5.
To moms of multiples: Shout. Out. I wanted twins at one time.
To adoptive moms and foster moms: shout out. I see these processes worked out in families of close friends and I can't even begin to fathom the emotional roller coaster of love and loss that they have endured, all for the glory of God and the Gospel.
Stay-at-home moms, working moms, first-time moms, sixth-time moms, pregnant moms with littles, moms with school-age kids, step moms, moms with kids with disabilities or long-term illnesses, moms whose grown children live thousands of miles away.
Shout out.
